Business Council Opines On County’s Budget Shortfall

The recent news regarding the financial challenges for Tuolumne County are very troubling.

Reports of a potential reduction of over 14 County employees are a clear indication that County revenues have not kept up with County costs.  The Tuolumne County Business Council believes that the root cause of the lack of revenue is very apparent; it is a lack of new investment in our County.  The Stone Mill Center is a perfect example of the issue.  As the developer has publicly stated, he expects the Center to generate approximately $100,000 per year in sales tax revenue to the County and yet we have the controversial group, Citizens for Responsible Growth, taking legal action to delay the construction of the Center, thus delaying its contribution to the County’s finances.  We believe this is irresponsible and not in the best interest of our County.  Another way to look at this is that the County has reported that they will need to come up with over $525,000 over a three year period to repair the roads damaged by the winter storms.  Wouldn’t it be great to have the new sales tax revenues from the Stone Mill Center pick up almost 60% of those cost over that time.

Given the state of the County’s finances, we believe it is more critical than ever to support new investments in our County and call for CFRG, and their leader Barbara Farkas, to withdraw their opposition to the Stone Mill Center and carefully consider the damage their past and present actions are inflicting upon our County.