The budget WAS incomplete. Fees are being raised “across the board” and new fees are being created. Although staff should be less busy, with far fewer permits being pulled, those employed by or through the City of Encinitas continue to get yearly increases in wages and benefits, while the rest of the economy flounders.

It is hard letting anyone go, including government workers. However, I would rather see some staff in the City of Encinitas given pink slips than more teachers at the state level. Also, private citizens can’t afford more and higher fees, to put on a new roof, or to teach or take a Yoga class, for example, held at a public park. These fees are like hidden taxes, as Councilmember Jerome Stocks suggested at last Wednesday’s Council Meeting.

We are all tightening our belts, it seems, except for Encinitas city staff and outside consultants and contractors paid by the City.