BUENA PARK : City to Cut Budget Another $2 Million

Faced with a recession and plummeting tax revenue, city officials say they are planning to cut an additional $2 million from the city budget by July--twice the reduction made six months ago.

During the weeks ahead, the City Council will be working with department heads to determine where to reduce the budget, which has already undergone a $1-million trim.

City Manager Kevin O’Rourke declined to say what services and departments might be targeted. However, he vowed that taxes will not be raised.

“The council sees and understands that this is not a time, when everyone is suffering, to raise taxes and burden people more,” O’Rourke said.

Since July, a hiring freeze has been in effect and 28 positions have been eliminated through attrition. Similar “attrition and layoff options” will be looked at as a way to save more money, O’Rourke said.

Contributing to the bleak outlook is a $600,000 decrease in sales tax revenue for the first quarter of 1991, according to city statistics. Figures for the second quarter of the year are just starting to come in. While they don’t look quite as bad, they are still not good, officials say.

“Everything is down overall--retail sales in the mall, auto dealerships, the entertainment industry,” said Greg Beaubien, director of finance. “It is just a slow economy.”

This is just one of several decreases in revenue the city has experienced recently. More than $2 million in anticipated revenue did not come through last year, contributing to a $1.6-million deficit in the budget. This was eliminated by dipping into reserves and cutting some services.

To prepare residents for what is to come, the city is sending out mailers this week. “The reality is 1991-92 is not developing into a year of recovery but rather a year of continued recession,” the letter states. “Therefore we have directed staff to utilize more of our city’s reserves and reduce services by $2 million.”

The council is expected to act on all budget reductions by July. However, if the slump is worse than predicted, the council could start sooner, city officials said.