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The new Loomis Basin Chamber of Commerce office is located at Horseshoe Bar and Doc Barnes roads in Loomis. The facility acts as a visitor center at the gateway entrance to town off of Interstate 80 and was made possible through partnerships between the Town of Loomis, which is leasing the land to the organization for $1 per year for the next 20 years, and businesses and individuals. Doupnik Manufacturing donated the building and High Hand Nursery donated the landscaping. The building officially opened last October.
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Loomis suffers sales tax losses, but economic outlook is positive
Like many small towns, Loomis is facing declines in sales tax revenues and uncertainty regarding the state’s budget crisis. But, looking ahead, Loomis Town Councilman Mike Ucovich is optimistic.
He lists many reasons for that optimism. The town is moving forward with plans to either restore or rebuild the train depot located at the end of Horseshoe Bar Road. The vacant Horseshoe Bar Grill, which shuttered its doors more than two years ago when the former owners relocated to southern California, will be reopening in the coming weeks. The Village at Loomis plan, a decade-long project, will be the largest development in the town’s 20-year history if it’s approved, adding up to 800 residents. The town’s fire district is finally on sturdy financial ground after struggling for years. The Blue Goose Fruit Shed restoration project was recognized at the County Economic Development Summit held last month in Lincoln. And, Ucovich predicts there will be no major changes to the town’s budget despite the state’s fiscal woes.
The newest sales tax figures, representing decreased retail activity in the fourth quarter of 2007, show that Loomis is down about 20 percent. The previous quarter, the town suffered a 22.7 percent loss, the largest of any town in the Sentinel’s five-city coverage area.
“Since Roger Carroll, our finance director, always over estimates our expenditures and under estimates our revenues, we’ll be fine,” Ucovich said.
“We’re a low flying public service entity,” he said. “We have a relatively small staff so, unlike Auburn, we don’t have to get rid of everybody.”
As reported previously in the Sentinel, Auburn eliminated 10 city
positions, resulting in savings of $640,000 to $700,000 annually over
the next three years. The cost to the city, which offered a two-year
retirement incentive to eight employees, is $276,400 payable over the
next two years, not “up front,” as reported elsewhere. Auburn saw an
8.5 percent sales tax revenue loss. It is the only city to make such
drastic moves at this point. Rocklin and Lincoln have left positions
vacant, but have not implemented a “hiring freeze,” according to their
city managers. Colfax, which lost 19 percent of its sales tax revenue,
eliminated two vacant, part-time positions last September (a video
camera operator for City Council meetings and a city coordinator for
the town’s farmers’ market).
Loomis is faring much better with its budget, according to Carroll. The town is debt-free and in good financial shape.
“We don’t see any problems with the town,” he told the Sentinel in a previous interview published in February.
Much like Colfax, the town contracts with
the Placer County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services, so
does not have the burden of paying for a fully staffed police
department.
There is a traffic officer in Loomis that is mostly funded through the state. Loomis contributes $20,000.
“That’s one area we’re unsure about,” Ucovich said. “If it’s part of the governor’s overall 10 percent cut, we’re fine.”
Bids to restore or rebuild the historic train depot at Loomis Station
Plaza will be awarded at the next Town Council meeting on Tuesday,
April 8.
“(The bids) came in really good,” Ucovich said. “The real question now
is whether we tear it down and build a new one or restore the old
building.”
Once restored, plans call for the depot to house a museum, public
meeting room and public restrooms, essentially expanding services to
the residents.
“This will really add to our downtown,” he said.
The proposed Village at Loomis development would comprise 54 acres of
land, commonly known as the Gates and Kimm properties, located behind
Raley’s, the library and the Veterans Memorial Hall on Horseshoe Bar
Road. Still in the planning phase, the project would add up to 800
residents with single-family housing and condominiums, a Town Hall
(since Loomis currently doesn’t have one), 45,000 square feet of
commercial and retail space, and would preserve five to six acres of
riparian area.
Ucovich said that if it’s designed properly and everything is approved,
the project could blend seamlessly with the current downtown corridor.
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