The city of Santa Barbara is in the red. There's a four-point-one-million-dollar budget deficit. During the next few weeks, City Council members will decide how to make ends meet. For now, the City's Finance Department has come up with some recommendations to balance the budget. With just about 60 days to go until the new budget takes affect, it's time to figure out how to save money citywide.
Officials say some of the revenue sources were not holding up as well as they had hoped they would. Bob Pierson, the City's Finance Director has helped to come up with a way to balance the budget. Some of the biggest cuts are $767,000 from the Police Department, $295,000 from the Fire Department and $234,000 from the Parks and Recreation Department. One half of the cuts are said to be a one time deal. The other half will come from general operating costs, which Pierson says is meant to make the cuts go unnoticed by citizens. Key News Reporter Ryan Carmel looks at what the City Council may decide to cut in the coming weeks.