Lakewood Expects 18% Increase in Budget Over 2 Years

City officials are planning an 18% increase in their operating budget over the next two years, despite expected losses in state and federal revenues and the anticipated departure of at least two auto dealerships.

Last week, City Administrator Howard Chambers submitted a preliminary budget of $47.2 million, up $7.2 million from the current two-year budget for the fiscal period ending June 30. Chambers said he was forced to eliminate $2.9 million in budget requests for the 1988-90 fiscal period beginning July 1.

“This was probably the most difficult budget we had to balance prior to our presentation (to the City Council),” Chambers said this week.

He predicted that Lakewood will lose nearly $1.7 million from state and federal sources by 1990.

At the federal level, for example, Housing and Community Development Act funding is expected to decrease by $318,000, Chambers said. Federal revenue sharing, which netted the city $387,000 two years ago, will no longer be available.

At the state level, Chambers said, “it is clear that the $1-billion revenue shortfall will throw state-funded programs into chaos in coming months.”

Another threat to city revenue, said Chambers, is the possibility that at least two of Lakewood’s five auto dealerships may soon move to either the Cerritos Auto Mall or an unfinished auto complex in Signal Hill.

“One deal is already signed, sealed and delivered,” said Chambers, who declined to name the dealers who are planning to relocate. The departure of two dealers would cost the city $250,000 a year, he estimated.

City officials expect increases in local sales tax revenue to help offset the declines in state and federal funding.

The budget presentation was held in the City Council chambers last Saturday. A final public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled there June 28.

The city Finance Department has estimated that Lakewood’s total sales tax revenue will increase 8% this year to more than $7.2 million and will grow to $7.5 million the following fiscal year.

The increase is due in part to last year’s redevelopment of the old Dutch Village complex at Woodruff Avenue and South Street. The new Lakewood Marketplace, marked by bright awnings and new shops, boosted the city’s general fund by $350,000 last year, said Chambers.

The budget outlines 10 priority projects for the next two years, including $1.3 million to renovate Mayfair and River parks. The city-run Lakewood Stables at 21-acre River Park would be overhauled, and picnic areas would be added at both parks.

Other projects range from $847,000 for repairing damaged sidewalks and streets to $100,000 for a new fire and security system for the recently refurbished Civic Center.

The cost of the city’s law enforcement contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will increase $639,768 during the next two years. This reflects a 10% countywide cost increase as well as several new crime prevention programs, including a computerized fingerprint identification system.

City spokesman Donald Waldie said that although the large Lakewood Center, a regional shopping center that pulls in the bulk of the city’s sales tax revenue, continues to thrive, Lakewood could suffer financial losses if it does not plan for the future.

“Contrary to popular belief, we’re not a fat-cat city,” said Waldie. “We’re in constant competition for sales tax dollars.”

He suggested that redevelopment--a subject once shunned by residents--may soon become attractive as a way of protecting Lakewood’s economic base. “It’s an objective slowly coming into focus.”