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.

Santa Ana Streets, Sidewalks and Neighborhoods to Gain

In early July, the City Council will consider a $286-million budget aimed at sprucing up long-neglected city facilities and repairing deteriorating sidewalks, streets and neighborhoods.

“You can’t make people feel safe in badly maintained neighborhoods,” said City Manager Dave Ream when he unveiled a five-year, $132-million capital improvements plan--$25.1 million of which is included in this year’s budget--at a recent City Council meeting.

Among the major projects scheduled for fiscal 1987-88 are:

A $4.1-million widening of Bristol Street between Warner Avenue and 1st Street.

$2.9 million in improvements on Westminster Avenue.

Street, sidewalk and tree work costing about $1.9 million in older neighborhoods such as Henninger Park, Washington Square, Eastside and French Park.

In all, Ream is proposing to spend about $5.8 million in fiscal 1987-88--and $29.4 million over the next five years--on trees, sidewalk, curb and gutter repairs, and alley and street improvements in Santa Ana neighborhoods. Over the last five years, expenditures for those items have averaged only about $280,000 annually.

Proposed general fund appropriations of $92.7 million are only 1.2% more than last year, city budget director Dave Borik said. A slowdown in the economy, the loss of a Cadillac dealership and a Gemco store, and a delay in the opening of other major retail stores kept sales tax revenues--the largest component of general fund revenues--at a level that was only 2.3% above last year’s total. Budget planners had expected an increase of 9.4%, Borik said.

Property tax revenues of $16.3 million, however, were up 11% over last year, reflecting the general increase in property values brought about by the city’s redevelopment efforts, Borik said.

Residents will probably notice a change in their water bills. The proposed budget includes a monthly water meter charge increase of $2--from $1.50 to $3.50--plus a basic rate increase of about 18%, Borik said. The increase, the city’s first in four years, will raise the average bill from about $12.50 to $16.50, and was made necessary by more expensive water it purchases outside Santa Ana and by higher operating costs, Borik explained. The added revenues will also help pay for $2.5 million in major water projects planned for this year, some of which will alleviate water shortages that the southern part of the city sometimes experiences in extremely hot weather, he 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.