Coachella Valley cities pile up huge reserves
Over the past three years, as the Coachella Valley’s nine cities have struggled with what some described as potentially devastating budget shortfalls, a few of those same cities protected — and even grew — emergency reserves.In total, at the end of June, those nine cities had $302 million in mostly liquid assets in bank accounts ready to be tapped in case of significant economic strain.
Last year, when Indian Wells asked residents to approve a 2 percentage point tax increase on hotel rooms, pleading its case by pointing to a loss of $3.6 million in redevelopment funds, the city had reserves of $31.2 million.
Today, Indian Wells — which laid off five people last summer to save money — is sitting on $37.8 million in reserves, enough to run the city for three years based on its current budget. In one year, when the city cut jobs and...............................(continue reading at)
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20121014/NEWS01/112170001
