CITY BUDGETS : Budget-Balancing Deadline Sends Some Cities Scurrying

In Santa Ana, a city financial squeeze means that 90 positions are being eliminated from the city payroll. But the budget for tiny Villa Park, Orange County’s smallest city, is rising 60% this year--thanks entirely to capital spending on road improvements. And in Irvine, last year’s deficit crisis is nearly forgotten and 38 employees will be added to the city payroll.

In most cities where spending is up, it is for increases in public safety personnel or road improvements. But whether the numbers are rising or falling, the story at city halls throughout Orange County is essentially the same: it is budget-balancing time.

The new fiscal year for California’s cities began Friday, and legally they were required to have had their budgets balanced and approved by the night before. However, several Orange County cities are still working with proposed budgets, including Fullerton, which is scheduled to approve its spending plan tonight.

Following is a city-by-city look at the budget picture in each of the county’s 27 cities. La Palma

No Growth Means the Same Old Budget

“We do not grow. We are built out, for all intents and purposes,” said La Palma’s assistant city manager, Pamela Gibson, in explaining why the city’s budget remained essentially flat this year over last.

The budget for the new fiscal year, which still has not been approved by the City Council, is a proposed $8,356,353--about $20,000 less than last year’s.

According to Gibson, La Palma is spending $46,000 on only one new program this year: a drug abuse education campaign.

Because La Palma’s tax base will likely not grow, Gibson said, “I don’t see this city being able to generate a whole lot of additional revenue in the next few years. So if costs go up, we will have to look at service cutbacks,” she said.