The City of Lathrop is budgeted to spend less money from Measure C – the one-cent sales tax fund that Lathrop voters approved overwhelmingly in 2012 – next year than they did this year.
Next week the Measure C Oversight Committee is set to meet and review the Measure C budget for the upcoming fiscal year – which, as it stands right now, is scheduled to be $4,821,506 which represents a 3 percent reduction from the budgeted amount this fiscal year.
The fiscal year ends on June 30.
But while those numbers represent a slight decline in allocated funds, those numbers might be overly conservative compared to the actual revenue that the city is generating.
This current fiscal year the city budgeted to send $2.4 million to the Lathrop Manteca Fire District – which represents 40 percent of the overall money generated per the agreement that the two agencies made prior to the voter approval of Measure C.
The previous fiscal year, however – the last year with actual budget numbers and not forecasts – the Lathrop Manteca Fire District received over $4.1 million which far exceeded the budgeted number. The district believes that it will receive closer to $4.5 million this year, or more than $2 million more than what was initially forecast.
The first year the Lathrop received Measure C funds, it estimated that it would generate $2 million in total – allocating approximately $800,000 to the fire district. Because of the unprecedented growth in Lathrop over the last decade, Measure C has generated far more than what was initially forecast.
And what, exactly, are they doing with all that money?
According to the packet that was prepared for members of the Measure C oversight committee, the city has used Measure C funds to fund 7.5 full-time police positions in addition to 4 parks and recreation positions while funding the maintenance and operation costs for the Lathrop Generations Center and $1.54 million worth of public improvements.
The Lathrop Manteca Fire District has used its Measure C funds to pay for 9 fulltime firefighters, 1.98 battalion chiefs, a deputy fire marshal, and overtime needed to maintain a constant staffing ratio of three firefighters per station, per shift.
Measure C funds have also been used to purchase additional fire apparatus in the past and is currently being used to pay for the licensing costs needed to ensure that the district can provide Advanced Life Support (paramedic) service to the residents they serve.
The Measure C Oversight Committee – which provides guidance on how Measure C funding should be allocated and spent – will meet on Tuesday, June 20 at 6 p.m. inside of the council chambers at Lathrop City Hall, located at 390 Towne Centre Drive. For more information, or to obtain a copy of the agenda, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.
To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
