Talk about a quick turn-around.
The City of Chico, fiscally teetering just a few years ago, is seeing the black ink at the end of the tunnel.
“This we anticipated would take multiple numbers of years — 10, 15, 20 years,” said Chico City Manager Mark Orme.
Tuesday night, several years of stingy budgets, deep cost cutting, and unanticipated tax revenue enabled the council to throw an unexpectedly large sum at paying off debts. The amount officially reduced the city’s debt to a little over five hundred and eighteen thousand dollars.
“When I first came on board two and a half years ago, it was up around we’re talking $15 million, and to bring it down this quickly, it’s got to be a record of some kind,” he said.
He said many people deserve credit for the fiscal comeback. Orme said the next prudent goal would be rebuilding reserve funds as a hedge against the next downturn.