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.

Yorba Linda Capital Expenditures Account for the Gains

The city has allocated more than $2 million for capital projects in 1987-88, all outlined in a $17.1-million budget resolution adopted last Tuesday by the City Council.

The 1987-88 budget is 7.5% higher than the current budget, “largely due to the fact that the city operates largely on a pay-as-you-go basis with its capital improvements,” said Bruce Channing, assistant city manager.

Property tax revenues are expected to be up from a revised estimate of almost $2 million for 1986-87 to about $2.3 million in 1987-88. Sales tax revenues are expected to rise from about $1 million this fiscal year to about $1.2 million in fiscal 1987-88.

Capital projects such as road work and park construction comprise one of the largest single categories of expenditures, he said.

Specific projects outlined in the 1987-88 budget include:

Widening of Yorba Linda Boulevard between Lakeview Avenue and Imperial Highway, $500,000.

Continued development of Jessamyn West Park and the Hurless Barton Park, $435,000.

Construction of Broadmoor park site, $220,000.

DARE, a drug awareness program focusing mainly on elementary schools, $50,000.

Opening of the Travis Ranch Activities Center in December or January, total cost unknown.

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 Wei