Irvine Proposes Record $45.6-Million Budget

The city of Irvine unveiled a record $45.6-million operating budget Monday that, if approved by the council today, would restore staff positions cut last year in the wake of a revenue shortfall.

The 1988-89 budget proposal calls for, among other things, the hiring of three dozen new workers--actually a net increase of 15 positions over the 21 cut last year.

During preparations for the 1987-88 budget, city officials discovered that projected revenue would fall between $4.5 million and $6 million short of what was needed to maintain the current levels for services such as trash pickup and police protection. To offset the shortfall, the city imposed a controversial 1.5% utility tax on businesses, increased the business license tax 50% and cut the city staff by 21 full-time positions.

Those measures, combined with exceptionally strong growth in retail sales during the year, were more than enough to compensate for the shortfall. According to Assistant City Manager Paul Brady Jr., the city is emerging from the fiscal year, which ends June 30, with a surplus of between $1.6 million and $2 million. The surplus is incorporated in the 1988-89 budget proposal.

“We are in a solid, healthy financial position,” Brady said Monday in a budget briefing for the news media.

The 1988-89 request represents a 14% increase over last year’s budget of $39.6-million. The increase anticipates, in part, Brady said, continued population growth in the city. The population, now 97,000, is growing at about 10% a year, he said. The city’s daytime population, now 215,000, is likewise surging at a rate of 8%, he said.

As a result, the city also needs to be spending more to maintain its expanding network of streets and green beltways, Brady said.

The increase in demand for services, combined with the big staff cut last year, has driven city workers to unprecedented levels of stress and “burnout,” Brady said. He said that at least “six to eight” long-term employees over the past year cited burnout as the main reason for their leaving city jobs.

“The stress is the highest it’s ever been on a sustained basis,” said Brady, who has been with the city since its incorporation 16 years ago. Some employees have regularly been putting in 15 to 20 hours overtime a week, he said. “They’re busting their tails. We’re burning some people out.” If the request for more positions is approved, the number of full-time city employees would rise to 611; a number that Brady said is still small compared to most California cities of about 100,000 population.

The most overworked city departments, Brady said, are community services and public works. The city also has begun a monthlong study to see whether those departments need restructuring, Brady said.

The proposed budget also sets aside $3.9 million to cover any future “economic uncertainty.” Last year, $2.9 million was set aside in that fund, which is earmarked for emergencies that may arise during an economic downturn.

In fact, Brady said, the city has begun planning for a countywide economic slump that has been predicted to occur within two years. One sign that such a slump may be approaching, he said, is that developers are “rushing” to get their projects under way.

A number of city departments will find, however, that the proposed budget does not honor all their requests. For example, Brady said, his office is not following a city Finance Commission recommendation that the city begin hiring people for its open space program.

That program is beginning in earnest with the passage last week of Measure C, which authorizes the city to negotiate with the Irvine Co. for the transfer of as much as 5,000 acres to be maintained permanently as open space. Brady said he would prefer to see a consultant running that program until the city can find out how much land, if any, it will get from the Irvine Co.

Brady said, however, that if the council wishes to add anything to the budget beyond what has been proposed, they may do so through a $935,000 discretionary reserve account.

PROPOSED $45.6--MILLION IRVINE CITY BUDGET

INCOME

(July 1, 1988-June 30, 1989)

Other Taxes: 5%

Property Tax: 10%

Other Revenues: 4%

Community Services Fees: 4%

Transient Occupancy Tax: 7%

Utility Users Tax: 5%

Other Agencies: 8%

Miscellaneous: 4%

Development Fees: 12%

EXPENDITURES

(July 1, 1988-June 30, 1989)

Public Works: 11%

Public Services: 24%

General Government: 5%

Administrative Services: 6%

Public Safety: 30%

Community Services: 13%

Community Development: 11%

SOURCE: Office of Irvine City Manager