Council to Study Cuts in Services, Personnel : Budget: Glendale’s elected officials balk at a 9.3% proposed spending increase. They call a special meeting to explore programs and positions that can be trimmed.

Glendale City Council members have called for a special meeting to consider significant cuts in the proposed 1990-91 budget, claiming it allows excessive spending and imposes an increased burden on taxpayers.

A majority of council members said they will not approve the proposed city budget because it calls for a 9.3% increase in spending. They said they will consider cuts in personnel and services at the meeting next Tuesday morning.

The meeting was ordered after the normally calm budget-review process erupted into a heated debate during an informal study session Friday. Several council members said that after allowing an 11% budget increase last year, they had vowed not to approve another sizable boost this year.

“The increase in this budget is excessive,” Councilman Jerold Milner told the city staff, which prepared the $266-million spending plan. “There are going to be some things that can be trimmed. We need to look at programs. We need to look at services. If we don’t trim trees for a year, how much will we save?”

During Friday’s study session, Milner urged the staff to slice as much as $6 million from the budget.

Mayor Larry Zarian did not specify the size of the reduction he wanted. But he said: “We need to look at the budget again. If it means eliminating services, that’s what we need to do. Maybe this is the year when the public needs to get a rude awakening.”

The council had scheduled a public hearing on the budget during its regular meeting next Tuesday afternoon. But this week, Zarian instructed City Manager David Ramsay to set up a second council study session on the budget, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Glendale City Hall.

City officials said it was uncertain whether the council will be ready to hear public comments on the budget during the regular Tuesday afternoon meeting. The council must adopt a budget before July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

“We’re preparing a menu of potential cuts,” Ramsay said. “The cuts we’re going to be getting into now are what we call service-level cuts--everything from forestry services to park services to police services.”

He said the city staff slashed more than $2 million in potential spending from the budget before it was presented to the council. Ramsay said he will provide further options on Tuesday, and the council must decide which services to reduce.

The city manager said the 9.3% increase in his proposed budget was less than the amount allowed by the state under the Gann initiative. Under that measure, he said, the city could have increased spending by 5.5% to follow the rise in the Consumer Price Index and another 5.25% because of the city’s population growth.

Ramsay’s proposed budget called for adding 41 new full-time employees to the city’s work force of 1,579. He had earmarked 25 of the new positions for the Glendale Police Department, including additional sworn officers and civilian parking enforcement workers.

At Friday’s study session, council members agreed informally that a new police captain and an executive assistant should be dropped from the proposed budget, saying the new employees should be street officers, not supervisors.

Glendale officials said the city has a history of sound fiscal policies and is one of the few cities in California with no bonded indebtedness against its general fund. In a report accompanying the proposed budget, city staff members said the 1990-91 plan would allow Glendale to continue to operate on a “pay as you go” basis.

To pay for increased spending over the coming year, Ramsay proposed new taxes for cable television service and interstate telephone calls, an increase in the bed tax paid by guests at Glendale hotels and rate increases for trash collection, electricity, water and sewer service, which are all provided by the city.

Several council members were unhappy with some of the proposed increases.

Zarian said the bed tax should not be increased from 7% to 10% just to keep pace with neighboring cities. He said he also is concerned about the utility rate increases, including a proposed 70% jump in sewer charges.

City staff members said that increase is needed to help pay for court-ordered improvements at the Hyperion treatment plant, which is partly owned by Glendale.

But Zarian said, “There are people who are absolutely not going to be able to pay the increased fees because they live on limited incomes.”

Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg said she was worried about balancing the budget by increasing the burden on taxpayers. “If we adopt these, how are we going to balance the budget next year?” she asked.

Bremberg urged the city staff to take a harder look at the increased staffing and purchases listed in the budget, including $900,000 in new City Hall computer equipment.

“We are, in a sense, the parents of an awful lot of people,” she said. “And I believe we have to live within our means. If you can’t afford it, you can’t buy it.”

Councilman Carl Raggio was the only elected official to argue against significant reductions in Ramsay’s original spending plan. “What are we going to give up?” he asked the other council members on Friday.

During an interview, he said: “I thought it was a good budget. The staff had already done severe cutting.”

Raggio said he believes that the proposed fee increases are fair and that city service levels should not be reduced at a time when Glendale’s population is continuing to grow. “I’m not willing to go that route,” he said.

Zarian questioned whether the city needs to hire five new parking enforcement officers, as recommended in the proposed budget. But Raggio said he favors this plan because the increased revenue from parking fines will far exceed the officers’ salaries.