Dawn Crawford vs San Bernardino's Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

Even after combing through a department-by-department petty cash expenditure ledger dating back to July 1, members of a San Bernardino City Council committee haven't found the budget cuts to plug a $7.2 million deficit, committee members said Wednesday.

Tracking details in the ledger, which is as thick as a carton of photocopy paper, has been "nearly impossible," City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said.

"I'm only a quarter of the way through it," she said. "Today at the meeting, the staff was wanting our ideas. I said, 'That's great, but you know the budget.' "

A Wednesday meeting to review committee members' findings came up empty, Councilman Rikke Van Johnson said.

The ledger lists every expenditure drawn against the city's $18.6 million general fund since the beginning of the fiscal year, with expenses tabulated by department and account number.

"After awhile, those numbers start blending together, especially if you're not used to looking at them, he said. "It's a lot. Overwhelming."

The full council will consider the deficit again on April 7, Johnson said.

Committee members undertook the review in response to City Manager Fred Wilson's disclosure that shortfalls in tax revenues, primarily sales tax, have left San Bernardino with a $7.2 million deficit on its $145 million operating budget in the current fiscal year

Most of that larger budget falls into restricted funds that council members can't change, McCammack said last week. Still, she hoped to find additional savings in the general fund.

On Wednesday, she said she had found some expenditures that puzzled her, including a payment to a private contractor to make business cards for the staff of Operation Phoenix, Mayor Pat Morris' crime-fighting program. McCammack said she thought the cards could have been made in the city print shop.

But so far, she hasn't found enough such checks to salvage the budget, McCammack said.

Reach Chris Richard at 909-806-3076 or crichard@PE.com