State budget holds key for Anderson's future

Although careful budgeting and fiscal conservatism has helped Anderson escape many of the worst impacts from the federal and state economic crisis, what happens in 2010 will depend more on what the state does or doesn't do than anything local government officials can or should do.

That is the consensus of Anderson's three top officials, interviewed separately during the past several weeks.

"The state is still in a fiscal crisis," City Manager Dana Shigley stated flatly. "For many cities and counties, it is time to regroup and look at our core services and how to save as many of them as we can before the state comes in and takes more of our money away from us."

Although relatively new to the City Manager post - she was offered a contract Sept. 1 after two months as Acting City Manager when Scott Morgan left for Florida in July 2009 - Shigley has been intimately involved with the city's finances since 1997 when she held the dual titles of finance director and treasurer.

Shigley's best prediction is that the City of Anderson will see a 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in its share of state sales tax due to increased competition when the Super-WalMart in Redding gets up to speed.

Anderson's Super-WalMart has long held the title as the best performing Super-Wal-Mart in the entire state of California, store manager Tim Trimble has said on several occasions recently.

However, it may take north state consumers several months to change their shopping habits, and some may never shop in Redding due to traffic congestion on Dana Drive, said Anderson Public Works Director Jeff Kiser.

Asked what she fears most about 2010, Shigley was quick to respond.

"I fear what the state will do to us. We are doing enough to save jobs and cut our costs based on what they have said they would do, but I am worried about the next round of budget cuts and what more they could take away from us," she said.

Out-going Mayor Butch Schaefer, who winds up his two-year term later this month, agreed wholeheartedly with Shigley.

"One of the biggest challenges in 2010 will be the state budget and what the state is going to do to us budget-wise," Schaefer said in a telephone interview while taking a break as a Shasta County Marshal.