CITY BUDGETS : A SPECIAL REPORT : A Balancing Act Between Less Money, Rising Costs

The Irvine City Council is considering new and increased fees, with concerts at Irvine Meadows and boxing at the Irvine Marriott among the targets for the levies. In Huntington Beach, some parking rates are going up. It’s the same story all over Orange County.

With few exceptions, cities wrestling with 1987-88 budgets that refuse to balance are being forced by reductions in anticipated sales and property tax revenues to hike fees and tap reserves--a sign that the county’s economy is slowing down.

Most of the county’s 26 cities still are expecting to take in more taxes in the 1987-88 fiscal year than in the current year--4% to 8% more, in most cases. But city officials say that that rate of growth is only about half of the previous year’s and is not enough to cover rapidly escalating expenses.

There are a few bright spots. Santa Ana, for example, has managed to find enough money to launch a new program to spruce up neighborhoods.

But, faced with a state law requiring balanced budgets, most city councils are struggling to maintain services at current levels.

Garden Grove Assistant City Manager Mike Fenderson summed up the situation described by many of his counterparts in other cities when he said: “We see the economy weakening . . . I see where serious problems will have to be addressed in the future.”

Here is a city-by-city look, in alphabetical order, at how the budget-balancing is going at city halls across the county.

Fountain Valley Loss of 3 Major Stores Puts Dent in Revenues

The departures of Gemco, Ralphs and Vons stores in the last several months spelled tight spending for the city, where the single largest source of revenue is sales tax.

When the three stores closed, officials said, the city lost a large chunk of revenue that it had counted on in long-term financial forecasts.

The Fountain Valley City Council approved a $15.3-million budget Tuesday with no cut in service levels but no significant increases either, fiscal services director Diana Hinz said. The budget is up only 5% over the previous year’s, she added.

Before Proposition 13 was passed in 1978, property taxes were the main source of city revenue. Now, Hinz said, with the city’s largest single source of money being sales taxes, the departure of the three stores meant “an added kick in the rump” for us. But a new Lucky store in town may spell short-term financial relief, Hinz predicted.

As in past years, more than half of the city’s budget--57.2%--will go toward police and fire service, at a cost of $8.7 million.

The 1988-1989 budget year will be even tighter than the one just approved, Hinz said.

Contributing to this story were Times staff writers Marcida Dodson, La Mont Jones Jr., Lanie Jones, Ray Perez, Mark I. Pinsky, David Reyes, Bob Schwartz, Nancy Wride and Jonathan Weisman.