California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

The city of Sunnyvale has unveiled a "home-grown stimulus plan" called Sunnyvale
Works, a plan that the city says would generate jobs and revenue and help the
city save money on various projects.

The stimulus plan, presented to the Sunnyvale, City Council involves investing
millions of dollars from grants and existing city funds into such projects as
parks, public utility and street improvements. Some of the projects have been
on hold for years and the idea is that completing projects now would save money
because the recession has resulted in a drop in construction jobs.

The city manager noted that the economic downturn and its length has impacted
city revenues and that balancing a budget cannot be fixed with cuts and savings
alone, and that new and more diverse revenue sources and economic development
must be a part of the solution.

So, besides capital improvement projects, the city may also look into raising
its utility user’s tax, which levies a tax on natural gas, electricity and
telephone use, however that requires voter approval. The city council was
generally supportive of the Sunnyvale Works plan, but some members were concerned
about whether there would be sufficient cash to fund all those projects and
whether those benefitting would be out-of-town contractors rather than those
from the city.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.