Redding staff outline plan to close $5 million shortfall; council backs some cuts but resists added police reductions

City Manager Barry Tippin told the Redding City Council at a budget workshop that staff is developing a plan to close an estimated $5 million gap in the general fund, proposing a mix of one‑time timing fixes, fee changes and ongoing reductions.

Tippin said staff’s current plan combines revenue adjustments and cuts, including a proposed $250,000 per‑year reduction to the city’s rolling stock transfers (the pool used to replace vehicles and equipment); a two‑year principal deferral on a radio purchase that improves near‑term cash flow; modest cannabis tax adjustments already assumed to add about $450,000 annually; and a recommended $350,000 annual reduction to the city’s tourism contract coupled with a possible five‑year extension so the tourism partner can “weather this storm.” Tippin summarized the structural problem this way: “we were gonna be spending more than we were taking in.”

The presentation also outlined personnel changes proposed as part of ongoing savings. Tippin described attrition already agreed in earlier budget steps and recommended treating additional police vacancies as permanent attrition, a proposal that staff estimated would save about $480,000 a year if three more sworn officer positions are removed. Tippin said the department had already reduced staffing earlier in the budget cycle: “we started this budget year … at 122” sworn officers and the combination of prior attrition and the new proposal would lower authorized…