Clovis Police and Fire Fighter Job Cuts

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

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local, sontaya rose

Sontaya Rose
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Fresno, CA, USA (KFSN) -- Clovis city leaders made a painful decision that could affect residents the next time they need a police officer to respond.

The council agreed to cut eleven police officer positions and six firefighters.

City leaders believe the restructuring is necessary now. The city is facing a two and a half million dollar shortfall. If you live here, it means that calls to police that are not critical, could get put on the back burner.

The days of Clovis Police showing up to a cold burglary may be gone.

The department will now be forced to prioritize which calls will get an actual officer and which can be handled by someone else or at a later time.

Lost revenue primarily from plummeting auto sales and the loss of motor vehicle fees has hit the city hard.

The city has collected 1.5 million dollars less this fiscal year in sales tax...much of that is auto related. This year Clovis is also expected to lose 300 thousand dollars in motor vehicle fees.

Monday, as city leaders discussed the budget cuts, Honda North moved into a new bigger, more prime location along Herndon Avenue. While many local dealerships are struggling, they say business has been steady.

General Sales Manager Harold Harikian said, "This is something we've been planning for a long time and were really planning for the future here and business right now for us is pretty darn good."

City leaders say depending on the severity of the state budget crisis, more cuts can be expected.

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