By Bob Livesay
Special to the Herald

The city of Benicia is in a potential financial crisis. That is not a maybe, that is a fact. By the 2019-20 and 2020-21 budget years we could be short by at least $1 million to $2 million in revenues. That will continue each year, not going away for many years because of CalPers’ unfunded liabilities and increase in salaries. We do have some unpleasant choices which the residents will not like.
The big one that the present council will have to deal with is services. Does Benicia want to remain a full service city with all our own departments, such as the Fire Department, Police Department, Library, city attorney’s office, parks, sewer and water departments, just as an example? I do think the residents want all that to remain in-house, myself included. But for this city to do that we are going to have to look at some department changes. I could name a couple, but I will leave that to the sitting City Council. They will scramble and be very uncomfortable with any decision in that direction. At the same time, the mayor will be diverting the blame to others and not her own bad decisions.
We have a mayor that will end up having been on the council as both a councilmember and mayor for 17 years by the end of 2020._So who do we blame? I think the mayor because of her lack of foresight and kicking the can down the road. It is always someone else’s fault. Time is up, no one else to blame but yourself, Mayor Patterson. I am willing to let the mayor off the hook if she can start looking at the city’s financial situation in a realistic way.
The first stop is the recreational cannabis retail stores. I do not want the city to approve any retail recreational cannabis dispensaries at present. It can always come back in late 2018 when hopefully the excise tax will pass for 2019 and we have a better handle on costs related to retail sales of cannabis. The revenues derived from retail for 2018 will be very minimal and will not put a dent in the budget concerns, but at the same time approve the Benicia Industrial Park for all cannabis-related business. That is the big future for revenue. If the excise tax is approved for 2019 at no less than 10 percent, that is a huge step in the right direction. That means all cannabis business in the BIP will be charged a 10 percent tax regardless of exempt from sales tax. It will generate more revenue than the retail recreational cannabis stores for 2018.
So what do we do about the next four to six years of budget issues? Bite the bullet for the Measure C money and put it toward the General Fund and reduce the 20 percent reserve to whatever level will balance the budget. Then when the second half of the 2018-19 budget comes, we will get some needed revenues. It will kick in big time in starting in the 2019-20 budget year. That is when we get real serious. We will be able to stabilize our future budgets, do the things Measure C was intended to do and restore our 20 percent reserve. Sounds easy? Well, it is. The council just has to forget about retail sales of cannabis and concentrate on the BIP. The BIP is where the real revenue is. It can work, and it will work. I see the future as retaining our independence as a full-service city with increased staff to handle all the issues.
This is a big opportunity for the mayor to secure her legacy. I doubt she will step up. It will take Councilmembers Hughes, Campbell and Schwartzman to carry this out. Sorry, Mayor Patterson and Vice Mayor Young, you have not shown any desire or knowledge on how to financially secure the future of this very fine city with a wonderful, dedicated staff. The time is now to get this rolling. The light at the end of the tunnel is in the hands of the named councilmembers._ After all, they did support Hughes for mayor and not Patterson. Now is your chance to show that you trust his leadership and follow his views and leadership skills. Show the residents that you care about this wonderful city. We are counting on you.

Bob Livesay is a Benicia resident.

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