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.

San Juan Capistrano Redevelopment, Capital Improvements Proposed

The City Council is expected to adopt a $28-million budget for fiscal 1987-88 at its fourth and final public hearing on the subject June 30, according to Glenn D. Southard, assistant city manager.

That total includes an ambitious redevelopment plan and $4.5 million in capital improvement projects. It also includes operating revenues of $7.8 million and expenses of $7.6 million.

The city expects to pay more for police protection in fiscal 1987-88. It will be adding a sheriff’s patrol unit and a parking enforcement officer, thus boosting the cost of its contract with Orange County for sheriff’s services from about $1 million in fiscal 1986-87 to $1.4 million in the new fiscal year. But Southard stressed that crime has not increased in San Juan Capistrano; rather the city continues to grow, and “this is our plan to stay ahead” of crime, he said.

The city’s redevelopment agency is expected to move ahead with a long-awaited redevelopment effort for its town center and Franciscan Plaza, spending $8.6 million for acquiring land and starting street improvements, Southard said.

Other plans for San Juan Capistrano next year include a new $1.2-million parking structure downtown.

The city is projecting increases in both sales and property tax revenues for the new fiscal year. Sales tax revenues are expected to climb from an estimated $1.5 million in 1986-87 to $1.7 million in 1987-88. Property tax revenues were estimated at $1.7 million in 1986-87 and are expected to climb to $1.8 million in 1987-88.

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.