City of Menifee is Financially Strong Says City Manager

"This city is in a very, very good position." announced Bill Rawlings this afternoon in a luncheon of about 60 local business and community leaders at Menifee Lakes Country Club.

Rawlings, who is the city manager of the City of Menifee, spoke about the city's current financial state in preparation for this evening's city council session that will discuss the proposed city budget for the 2011/12 fiscal year.

The budget, totalling $31.4 million against expected revenues of $33.1 million, puts the city in a unique position of being able to save for the future, the manager explained.

"The city is financially strong. We're one of the most efficient in the region.", noted Rawlings, citing statistics that show Menifee has been able to do more with fewer city staff.

But Rawlings went into details on expanding the staff from 20 employees to 28, including the hiring of a new finance director and economic development director.

"We're going to have a to-do list." he continued. "We need parks, we need paving, we need community services. Everything we look at is based on increasing quality of life in Menifee."

But on the flip side, Rawlings noted that residents of Menifee need more choices for dining and retail. "We're losing $10 to $11 million a year in sales tax dollars due to residents going to other cities for their shopping and entertainment. Our sales tax generation is less than one-half of the next lowest city."

When asked about what kind of population size it would take for Menifee to support the quantity and quality of dining and retail establishments, Rawlings noted, "We're looking at 100,000 people."

Menifee currently sits with 68,000 residents according to the City's website.

This evening, the Menifee City Council is set to hear a presentation on the new budget at 5:30pm at Menifee City Hall.