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. Orange

6 New Police Employees Will Be Put on Payroll

The Orange city budget is little changed from last year: $57.2 million, up from $56.6 million.

Still, six new employees will be added to the Police Department, including five officers, said City Manager William Little. And, for the first time, the city will participate in the countywide narcotics control task force by assigning an employee there.

Little cautioned that the city’s budget figures are tentative, since they do not reflect possible adjustments to police or administrative salaries. Negotiations for both, he said, are at an impasse.