The Turlock City Council has approved a spending plan for the upcoming budget year that calls for big reductions in services, including closing one of the city’s four fire stations one third to one half of the time as the city digs itself out from the overspending of the previous council.
While acknowledging it is not a budget they like but one that was necessary, council members voted 5-0 at their Tuesday meeting to approve Turlock’s 2019-20 budget, which starts July 1.
The focus was on the budget’s roughly $40 million general fund, where the reductions will be felt, and where the previous City Council approved spending that has drawn down the fund’s reserves. That spending has included hiring more people and approving higher pay.
The police and fire departments make up about 75 percent of the general fund.