By City Manager Christopher Boyd–
As I enter my fourth year as your City Manager, I am incredibly optimistic about this City’s future.
Our history is unique; we became a City by intent and established our own police department, which was no easy task. As a community, we do not shy away from tackling big challenges, which is why I am so confident about our City’s future, despite the obstacles we are currently facing.
Our City is continually faced with several underfunded state mandates and takeaways (in excess of $4 million annually) that put additional pressure on our City’s budget, affecting public safety, road maintenance, and other essential services. Simultaneously, new state laws are putting more criminal offenders on our streets, leading to increased public safety costs.
All this, coupled with concerns like extensive new waste management requirements imposed by the state and millions of dollars in needed infrastructure repairs, creates a significant challenge.
However, City staff and City Council remain committed to providing the necessary quality-of-life services our residents expect and deserve. We take this role very seriously and work every day to honor the City of Citrus Heights’ history of being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars.
Budgetary restrictions and costly state mandates notwithstanding, we continue to have big plans for our City’s future and with your help, we are committed to making Citrus Heights a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
I’m proud of all we accomplished in 2019, including decreasing our crime-rate at record levels in the last few years, and taking major strides to support the revitalization of Sunrise Mall.
Along with maintaining public safety, attracting and retaining local businesses continues to be a top priority for City Hall, as evidenced by the Dignity Health Mercy Medical Group medical office building bringing more than 200 new jobs to our City. We are also excited about the Mitchell Farms development soon providing 260 new single-family homes within walking distance of our business core, and Studio Movie Grill introducing much needed entertainment options in the spring.
Related: Studio Movie Grill moving forward with planned 2020 opening in Citrus Heights
These bright spots are examples of what we can do when we stay committed to keen fiscal planning, and intelligently leverage local dollars to continue to deliver essential services. Identifying opportunities to enhance locally-controlled funding to maintain our City’s long-term fiscal stability and viability is now more important than ever.
It is a testament to the resolve and responsibility of the City Council that the City has been able to provide excellent quality-of-life services to its residents without property taxes for this long – much longer than originally anticipated.
We will continue this legacy of responsible financial management while we seek to identify and fund community priorities.
This is where City Hall needs your help. In order to ensure we are aligning our priorities with those of our residents’, we are asking everyone to weigh-in. Please visit: CHpriorities.net to be a part of the largest engagement effort our City has ever undertaken, and share your priorities.
I look forward to continue working with City Staff, City Council, our Planning Commission, and the community to identify and address our City’s priorities in a transparent and accountable manner.
Christopher W. Boyd is the City Manager of Citrus Heights. Prior to serving as City Manager, Boyd served as Chief of Police for the City for over a decade.
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