Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/693237
enuewouldhavebeenesti- mated at $4,334,010, leav- ing a $522,500 deficit. The recommended gen- eral fund expenditures are budgeted at $4,714,736, in turn making the general fund reserves increase by $141, 774. Miller said since the mea- sure did pass the city will continue to maintain full- time municipal operations at current staffing levels. There will be no new per- sonnel hired and no lay-offs, according to the budget re- port. The budget will not ear- mark any capital improve- ment and replacement item funding for future expendi- ture this year. In coming fis- cal years' budgets the cap- ital improvements and re- placements will be revisited to consider funding. Essen- tially this is a one year de- lay in capital improvement expenditures, Miller said. An audience member went to the podium and said the measure would not have had a chance of passing if it wasn't for Su- san Price, Gary Smith and Crystal Weston. He person- ally thanked them for their hard work throughout the process. The budget will show an increase in the city's operat- ing reserves from $566,847 to $708,621, Miller said. In a previous meeting she said the positive effects of the measure passing would not fully be shown in the next year because of the continu- ing economic recovery. The revenue from the in- crease will start to benefit the city in March of 2017, Miller said. The budget deficit is due in part to a drop in fuel prices, Miller said at a Ro- tary meeting in May. Since the city relies so heavily on sale tax reve- nue, its fiscal stability can be significantly affected by economic recession and low fuel prices. With the measure pass- ing the city doesn't have to make previously proposed cuts, Miller said. The budget will formally be adopted, if approved by the council, on June 28. Budget FROMPAGE1 cantly bigger than the for- mer space. "It's a cost savings to us and to the commu- nity," Ross said. "We save on household hazardous waste disposal by not do- ing a large quantity of it and the community doesn't have to buy if we have it so it's a win-win." The facility costs for dis- posing of products that are still usable is about $70,000 per year, according to the Tehama County website. The cabinets for prod- ucts along with some in the new conference room and the counters at the front were made by the alterna- tive custody workers who work with Shaffer's Cabi- nets through the Tehama County Probation Depart- ment. The new conference room has big windows that not only allow for supervi- sion, but also provide the ability for children visiting for outreach programs to be able to see some of what the agency is talking about in presentations, Ross said. "They can see how big the landfill is," Ross said. "We appreciate that Waste Connections allowed us to do the programs when we shared space and their gen- erosity, but we are happy to have our own space." The agency does out- reach field trips to area schools and is grateful for Russ Skelton and his facili- ties maintenance crew who have helped with installa- tions and to keep them on the road. The bus, which was se- cured by the county for a potential bookmobile pro- gram, has a display that includes posters, a history lesson area and games that can accommodate about 15 children at a time. "We know schools are strapped," Ross said. "It costs them a pretty penny to go places plus we are able to fit in a small win- dow of time and we can get our message out. The future of waste reduction and conservation lies with the children." The state is moving to- ward a goal of zero waste and the program helps chil- dren identify what in their house is hazardous waste, teaches about recycling when possible and how to handle compact fluorescent bulbs both in disposal and when they break. It shows a bag monster made of the number of bags used by a typical person in a year and a bag apron made up of the number of bags used dur- ing a school year. Some have objected in the past to the facility's size and cost, but part of the cost was due to pre- vailing wage as a govern- ment agency and the cost of paving the driveway to the building and provid- ing utilities, Ross said. The building was started in August 2015 with com- pletion in May for a cost of $957,000, which was un- der the approved budget of $972,000. The majority of the work was done by December, but there were about $65,000 in change orders, Ross said. "It's a blessing to be back out here," Ross said, not- ing it was easier to man- age the facility from on- site instead of the airport, where they leased a space starting in January 2014. "I know there was a bit of an uproar about the size, but it is to plan for the fu- ture. Who knows what the future has for our agency." Funding for the project came from a loan from the Tehama County Sanitary Landfill Agency, a separate but similarly named joint powers authority, and was backed through tipping fees. For more information on various landfill pro- grams, visit http://www. co.tehama.ca.us/gov-de- partments/landfill-agency. Agency FROM PAGE 1 "It's a cost savings to us and to the community. We save on household hazardous waste disposal by not doing a large quantity of it ..." —LandfillAgencyManager Rachel Ross Juror #7, who was re- moved Tuesday, was re- placed with an alternate the same day. Bealer's attorney, Shon Northam, was not present Wednesday because he had another court appearance in Redding. Bealer had a substitute lawyer for the reading of the verdict, who polled the jury. All jurors answered guilty. Northam was not avail- able for comment Wednes- day. "This was a very diffi- cult case for all of us," said Judge Delbert Oros. "The community of Red Bluff was uniquely affected by this case." Oros told the jury that in his nine years on the bench he had never seen a jury with as much determina- tion. Following the verdict, the alternate juror who took the place of Juror #7 said the de- liberation was the hardest part of the trial. "Yesterday was the only day I leaned guilty," she said. "The only reason was because of the DNA evi- dence." According to the juror, who asked not to be named, she went in thinking Bealer was 100 percent not guilty. "I had to take the emo- tion out of it," she said on the steps of the courthouse. Tehama County Dis- trict Attorney Gregg Cohen thanked both the jury and the prosecution for their time and efforts in the case. "We in Tehama County thank you wholeheartedly for your verdict," Cohen said referencing the jury. "Thank you for your pa- tience, thank you for your common sense and most importantly thank you for justice in this terrible, ter- rible case involving the bru- tal and senseless killing of a 14-year-old truly innocent child victim." Cohen thanked mem- bers of the prosecution and law enforcement teams by name, noting that each of them has lived and breathed this case for the last three years. "Now it is final, now it is real, now there is justice for Marysa," Cohen said. "And, yes now there will be jus- tice for Quentin Ray Bealer — child murderer, child mo- lester, child killer." For some jurors the trial took a personal toll. Bradlee McCarty, Juror #4, said the trial was difficult to cope with and he sometimes couldn't sleep. "It was a lot to process and it was a long time," Mc- Carty said. "It was a cool ex- perience to see how the pro- cess worked." McCarty said he had been summoned for jury duty before, but this was his first time serving on a jury. "I looked him in the face and he looked back at me, but I just didn't know," Mc- Carty said when asked if he thought Bealer was guilty for the entire length of the trial. McCarty noted that he was swayed when he heard testimony about all of the DNA evidence on the tank top that was used to stran- gle Nichols. He also said Bealer didn't seem to know his timing the day Nichols went miss- ing and seemed to be on the fence regarding his where- abouts. Bealer's sentencing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. July 8 and Cohen said the hope is that the sentencing will take place in Red Bluff. Bealer FROM PAGE 1 MARGARETBAUM—DAILYNEWS Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen, second from right, issues a statement following the guilty verdict Thursday morning in the Quentin Bealer murder trial in Sacramento. By Lolita C. Baldor and John-Thor Dahlburg The Associated Press BRUSSELS U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has told NATO allies that the U.S. will take another look at withdrawing thousands of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, a British official said. British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said "Carter told us the troop numbers and the dispositions are be- ing looked at again." The current U.S. plan is to reduce the number of troops from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of 2016. But Carter told reporters that President BarackObamahasindicated his willingness to re-exam- ine force levels based on the intensified fight against the Taliban, and Carter expects Obama will do that as the year goes on. Carters' comments came as NATO allies agreed to ex- tend the Afghanistan train- ing mission and keep troops in all four sections of the country in 2017. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the al- lies "will have what we call a flexible regional approach, meaning that we will con- tinue to be of course in Ka- bul but also out in the differ- ent regions." The alliance also is "now working on the final de- cisions for our exact force numbers into 2017. So that's something we will decide later on this year," Stolten- berg said. The U.S. troop-cutting plan is facing renewed scrutiny in light of the Tal- iban's resurgence. Former U.S. commanders have urged Obama to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan into next year. NATO's decision to main- tain a regional presence es- sentially shelves earlier plans to consolidate forces in and around Kabul, the national capital, next year. NATO will retain its hub- and-spoke system, which has headquarters in Ka- bul and Bagram, German troops working with Afghan forces in the north, Ital- ian troops doing the same in west, and U.S. forces in the southern region around Kandahar and in the east in Jalalabad. A senior NATO diplomat said officials believe NATO will get commitments for the $5 billion needed to fund the current number of Afghan security forces through 2020. The diplo- mat was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Asked about the plans, Fallon told reporters, "No- body wants to see all the spokes collapse. I think we're all aware of the fra- gility of the Afghan forces. They're fighting hard, but taking very heavy casual- ties." He also said that Britain will maintain its funding of the Afghan advisory mis- sion at nearly $100 million a year through 2020. The moves cement NA- TO's commitment to the training and advising mis- sion in Afghanistan as the conflict drags on and follow on Obama's announcement of expanded U.S. military authority to support the Af- ghan forces in the air and on the ground. The U.S. is now able to conduct airstrikes against the Taliban when needed in critical operations. NATO US said to be taking 2nd look at Afghan troop reduction plan VIRGINIA MAYO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, second right, walks with members of his delegation prior to a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday. By Ricardo Alonso- Zaldivar The Associated Press WASHINGTON Calling the rising cost of drugs "un- sustainable," congressio- nal advisers on Wednes- day recommended ma- jor changes to Medicare's popular outpatient pre- scription program, now 10 years old. The proposal from the nonpartisan Medicare Pay- mentAdvisoryCommission, or MedPAC, steers clear of calling for the government to negotiate drug prices di- rectly, an option both pres- idential candidates advo- cate. For beneficiaries, the plan is a mixed bag. All se- niors would get better pro- tectionfromextremelyhigh costs, but some may have to spend more. The recommendations are unlikely to gain trac- tion in Congress during an election year, but they will get a serious look from staff experts on key House and Senatecommitteesoversee- ing Medicare. MedPAC is a congressio- nal agency charged with making regular recom- mendations on Medicare, the government's premier health insurance program, with about 57 million el- derly and disabled benefi- ciaries.Echoingwidespread concerns about drug costs, MedPAC said spending for Medicare's prescription program grew by nearly 60 percent from 2007 through 2014, from $46 billion to $73 billion. That was driven by spending on high-cost ben- eficiaries who tend to use the most expensive medi- cations, such as the recent breakthroughcuresforhep- atitis C infection. Congress should re-examine the pro- gram's design "to better en- sure financial sustainabil- ity," the commission said. The MedPAC proposal would protect all seniors by setting an annual limit on how much they can be required to pay for medica- tions, a new safeguard. However, it would also raise costs by about $1,000 for some beneficiaries who land in the widely loathed coverage gap known as the "doughnut hole." And Med- PAC also proposed restruc- turing modest copayments that low-income beneficia- riesmayface,inordertoen- courage greater use of ge- neric and preferred brand name drugs. Insurance companies, the middlemen who deliver coveragetosome39million beneficiaries in the pre- scription program, aren't likely to be pleased. The MedPAC plan wouldn't change the share of total program costs sub- sidized by the government, which is roughly three- fourths. But a change in the payment formula would put insurers more directly on the hook for managing spending on the priciest drugs. PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM Spiraling drug costs prompt call for major Medicare changes RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA.Lic#829089B&C39 Conventional Valvoline Oil Change $14.95!! 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