While Mayor Tom Cosgrove said last week that city employees could not advocate for or against the council’s proposed utility users’ tax, City Manager Jim Estep discussed the tax at Tuesday’s Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce’s government-affairs meeting.

Cosgrove’s comments were made during the public comment portion of the last council meeting when a resident asked the council, “is it reasonable to expect citizens to pay for a large expenditure to sell them on something they may not want.”

The response from Cosgrove was that it was “the role” of the Lew Edwards Group “to provide information to the community.”

City Council voted last week to pay the Lew Edwards Group $54,000 “to educate” the community on budget woes and the council’s proposed utility users’ tax.

Estep used a PowerPoint presentation to discuss the city’s budget woes and the proposed tax, also known as Measure K, during Tuesday’s chamber meeting.

Lincoln’s public information officer Jill Thompson said the Lew Edwards Group “advised on portions of the PowerPoint” presentation.

“Measure K is a temporary, 3.75 percent local utility users’ tax that will expire in four years,” City Manager Jim Estep explained during the chamber meeting.

He said the measure would “help the city maintain the current service levels of police and fire” and service levels for library and recreation.

According to Estep, “without an additional, long-term revenue stream,” the city will “have to cut four positions and further cut services in library and recreation.”

A question-answer period followed Estep’s presentation.

The $54,000 being spent by the city for consulting services “to educate” residents about the city’s current budget woes was brought up by Lincoln resident and Lincoln Crossing Ad-hoc Community Issues Committee chairman Bob Birdseye.

“We want to educate the people in our community and we, as a community, don’t need a consultant to educate the community,” Birdseye said.

The Lincoln Crossing Homeowners Association will send out e-blasts and flyers, Birdseye said, to give its residents facts about the city’s proposed utility users’ tax and the Western Placer Unified School District’s school bond on November’s ballot.

Cosgrove said last Thursday that the $54,000 being paid to the Lew Edwards Group is to “get the information out to the public in the proper way and make sure we follow the correct rules and guidelines.”

“They (the Lew Edwards Group) have done this in the past and have good services,” Cosgrove said.

When asked why the city isn’t able to educate the community themselves, Cosgrove’s reply was, “I don’t think we have in-house the professional services to do so.”

“That’s not what our business is. This is a fairly specialized type of business,” Cosgrove said. “There’s a scope of services, and a number of tasks. The cost is associated with the scope of services.”

The Lew Edwards group has consulted with the city of Lincoln since October 2009, according to a resolution adopted by the City Council on Oct. 13, 2009 for $15,000 in consulting services from the Lew Edwards Group.

That amount was increased by $64,000 on Jan. 26 of this year.

“The initial $15,000 was to provide assistance with developing the survey that was conducted in November to gauge the citizens’ awareness of the financial challenges facing the city,” Assistant City Manager Anna Jatczak said through an e-mail response provided by public information officer Jill Thompson. “It was clear, as a result of the survey, that citizens were not aware of the financial challenges facing the city. At that point, an additional $64,000 was contracted with the Lew Edwards Group in January to assist in educating citizens regarding the financial challenges.”

Jatczak said the city assisted with the April and May budget workshops, mailings and messaging.

On Friday, Thompson told The News Messenger via e-mail that “70 percent of that cost ($54,000) is for printed material, handouts and other community information that the city does not have the staff or equipment to produce in-house.”

The News Messenger originally called and e-mailed Estep several times with questions regarding the $54,000 consulting fee last week and Thompson answered those questions via e-mail.

The News Messenger asked Thompson why someone from the city, such as herself, can’t provide information about the city’s budget for residents instead of hiring a consultant to do so.

“I am a staff of one with a multitude of other responsibilities that would not allow me the appropriate time or any staff to dedicate to this important project,” Thompson said.

“Seventy-five percent” of her time, Thompson said, is “dedicated to answering inquiries regarding the city’s fiscal situation and the proposed UUT,” and she’s the city’s “point of contact for information” about city programs and services.

Marjorie Ludwick, paying her city utility bill at City Hall Tuesday afternoon, said she “has no problem paying the tax under one condition.”

“If we know the money will come back to the city of Lincoln and no one will try to take it, we do not mind,” Ludwick said.

She wasn’t as accepting of the $54,000 being paid to educate residents.

“Give me a break! I think they could just say we’re going to have a town hall meeting, inviting residents to come if they want to find out more information,” Ludwick said. “In fact, they can have it in my backyard.”