LAGUNA HILLS : Budget Overruns in New City Crop Up

Cost overruns for the nuts and bolts of putting a new city together might increase the city budget about $247,000 more than projected, municipal officials said Monday.

Unforeseen expenses to maintain city parks and medians, as well as expenditures for computer hardware and sound equipment for the City Council chambers apparently caused the increase in the budget.

“It’s basically all fine-tuning,” said Don White, the administrative services director. “The budget given to the council last fall was a preliminary budget based on best assumptions, and we thought it best to bring (the changes) to the council.”

The council will decide tonight whether to approve general fund expenditures of $1,694,189--about $247,000 more than originally anticipated. However, city staff has identified additional gas tax income and other sources of revenue that will bring in about $179,998 more than originally thought.

The city will be operating with a general fund surplus of $108,229, rather than the $177,000 predicted in the preliminary budget.

The largest unanticipated expense was park maintenance. Interim City Manager Dan Miller said he thought that the county would take care of parks and street medians through July 1, when the city is scheduled to take over many services.

But the county recently told the city that park maintenance was not covered under a state law requiring the county to provide transition services for six months after incorporation.

White said the cost of caring for the parks and other city open space would run about $250,000 through the fiscal year.