YORBA LINDA : $30-Million Budget Includes Police Boost

The City Council approved a $30-million budget for next year after a heated debate over a police contract that includes a 25% increase in spending for law enforcement services.

The 1991-92 budget, approved Tuesday, 4 to 1, will increase overall spending by 5.3%. The city’s general fund, the part of the budget used to pay the cost of day-to-day city operations, will rise 7.5% next year, to $12.5 million.

Under the budget, the cost of the city’s police protection contract with Brea will rise from $3.8 million to $4.7 million. This will pay for three more sergeants, two community services officers, an administrative clerk, an investigator and a school resources officer, as well as raises in pay and benefits.

City officials also estimate that police spending will rise another 10% in 1992-93, bringing the police budget that year to $5.2 million.

Yorba Linda has contracted with Brea for police services for more than 20 years. The council voted, 3 to 2, to renew the contract for five more years.

Still, Councilman John M. Gullixson said city officials should not have accepted Brea’s proposed cost of police protection without negotiation. Gullixson said the city could have saved up to $200,000 if it had tried to negotiate. Mayor Mark Schwing agreed.

“You don’t walk into the car dealership and pay the posted price for a car,” Schwing said.

But Councilman Gene Wisner said that negotiating could damage the city’s relationship with the Brea Police Department. He noted that Yorba Linda has one of the lowest crime rates in the state.

“You have a relationship to protect, and we have that,” Wisner said. “If we get down to negotiating like you would (for) a car, I feel you would hurt that relationship. . . . It’s like the old cliche, if it’s not broken don’t fix it.”

Yorba Linda operates on a two-year budget cycle, outlining its expected spending a year in advance, so the City Council also approved a $26.5-million budget for 1992-93. Spending will be lower because a series of building and road projects are expected to be completed by then.