The City of Manteca is laying off 90 part-time workers.

Eighty of the workers are in the Parks and Recreation Department. The remaining 10 are support staff in the police department such as animal services.

Interim City Manager Miranda Lutzow said the layoffs are a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the abrupt economic slowdown triggered by steps being taken to flatten the infection curves. Some of those steps include postponing the collection of property tax and other revenue the city uses to finance day-to-day municipal services such as police, fire, and streets through the general fund.

Lutzow said state finance officials have informed cities sales tax declined between 30 and 37 percent in March.

“Dining out has dropped substantially and more people are buying food to eat at home that is not taxable,” Lutzow said. “Car sales have dropped significantly. More people are buying on line but the sales tax is collected in the jurisdiction where the distribution center is located.”

Manteca is home to an Amazon Prime warehouse, a more nimble smaller version of the standard behemoth Amazon centers in Tracy, Patterson, and Stockton. Prime aims for one to two hour deliveries from the time orders are placed. It counts for a smaller portion of the firm’s sales.

At the same time some non-essential businesses forced to close by government decree were in precarious positions to begin with such as JC Penney that many financial experts expect may be pushed to file bankruptcy due to the coronavirus.

JC Penney is one of three medium box stores in Manteca that are devoted primarily to clothing sales. The others are Kohl’s and Burlington.

Lutzow said the impact of the pandemic closure decisions in terms of key revenue such as reduced sales tax and hotel room taxes that may have plunged as much as 90 percent based on occupancy will hit Manteca after the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.

The anticipated drawn out recovery once social distancing is relaxed and eventually eliminated is expected to hammer cities, counties and the state for years to come.

The 80 Parks & Recreation employees’ payroll was basically covered by fee-based programs such as the before and after school Kids’ Zone program.

The city said basic animal services to continue.

Lutziow is working to avoid laying off any of the city’s 385 fulltime workers at this time.

Department heads have been instructed to look at their staffing and determine how those not fully utilized can be shifted to handle the city’s changing workload due to the coronavirus.

Lutzow said the declaration of a local emergency has given the city the flexibility to make such moves.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com