WILLITS, CA., 3/11/26 — The Willits City Council held a special meeting earlier this week to declare a fiscal emergency for the city and announce layoffs of several employees.
On Monday, in front of a large crowd of community members, the council voted to approve a resolution declaring a fiscal emergency. The council also passed a resolution that allows employee layoffs and transfers, establishes new classifications on pay ranges, and authorizes other administrative actions to stabilize the city’s finances.
According to the resolution, the city has decided to lay off seven employees, cut 11 vacant positions, and issue more than a dozen transfer notices. Interim City Manager Bob Richardson said during the meeting that layoff notices would be issued Tuesday.
Willits City Attorney Jim Lance said that the emergency declaration typically happens when cities are facing extreme budget deficits and makes it easier for the city to make layoffs or reorganize the government.
Andy Heath, a financial consultant for the city, said that Willits is annually spending at least $2.4 million more from its general fund than it is bringing in as revenue.
Mayor Tom Allman, who said he has only served on the City Council for 15 months, said that the layoffs were a difficult decision to make.
“I can’t think of a harder decision because we are addressing people’s livelihoods, and I know every person by name, and if anybody thinks this is an easy time to be on the City Council, you are grossly mistaken. This is something that has caused many sleepless nights,” Allman said.
He said, “Right-sizing the city is either something we do … or we dissolve the city.”
During the meeting, Richardson gave a presentation outlining the status of the city’s budget and what the reorganization of city departments should look like.
“Today, the general fund is overspent, and it’s depleted. It seems to have started roughly six or seven years ago, and accelerated briefly in the last few years,” Richardson said. “Quite simply, when we look at the last several years in accelerated expenses, nobody in administration or leadership said stop.”
He said that while an immediate solution is not possible, he can give suggestions that will help the city over the next few years.
“At this juncture, I cannot provide you with a solution to the problem. What I can do is bridge the next three and a half and four years to get you to a solution,” Richardson said. He also said that the city will need to cut out almost $1.3 million in salaries and “change the way we work” to stabilize finances.
Vice Mayor Matthew Alaniz said that the financial emergency is not the fault of one person and is a systemic problem.
“This is a deep-seated problem,” he added. “This is just the first step.”
There will be a Willits City Council meeting Wednesday evening and the agenda to that meeting can be found here.
The Willits City Council meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at Council Chambers, 111 E. Commercial St. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. Public comments can be emailed to council members or by calling (707) 459-4601.
Ultimately you “run out of other people’s money”.