Huntington Beach Plan Would Turn Deficit to Surplus : Government: A combination of cuts in services and increases in fees would put city in the black by $1.4 million.

The city can turn a projected $4.1-million budget deficit into a $1.4-million surplus if the City Council approves a combination of cuts and fee increases for the fiscal year beginning July 1, City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga said Monday night.

The surplus is needed because the state Legislature may cut funds to the cities or add new costs to city programs, Uberuaga said.

“The state is facing a deficit, and it may try to balance its budget on the backs of the cities,” Uberuaga said. “We won’t know until mid-summer, but we’ve got to be prepared.”

Uberuaga made the comments in an interview shortly before presenting the City Council a proposed 1992-93 city budget.

The city administrator said Huntington Beach can avoid red ink only by belt tightening--including doing away with 29 full-time city jobs and 80 part-time positions.

The budget proposes raising the city trash-collection fee from the existing $10.89 a month to $12 a month. Uberuaga said this increase mainly reflects the city’s escalating contract cost with Rainbow Disposal.

He said the city cannot afford to subsidize the cost of services, such as trash collection, because income to the city has dropped sharply during the recession.

“The city’s sales tax revenue is not projected to return to pre-recession levels for several years,” Uberuaga said. Unless there are fee increases and some cuts to existing programs, the city will sink into at least $4.1 million in debt next year, he added.

But Uberuaga may have trouble persuading a majority on the seven-member council to raise fees--a politically unpopular act. For instance, Mayor Jim Silva said in an interview Monday night that he opposes the fee increases.

“I think we can balance the budget without raising taxes or fees,” he said.

The council only discussed the budget Monday night and did not vote on it. The proposals will be under scrutiny for another month before coming for a final vote June 15, Silva said.

Uberuaga said that while the budget proposes some painful cuts to city departments, no single department will suffer unfairly.

“We’ve spread out the reductions,” he said.

Uberuaga added that the cutting of 29 city jobs would be achieved by not filling vacancies or making transfers. No full-time, existing employee will be laid off, he said. The 80 part-time jobs, however, will be dropped, and attrition cannot cover all of those positions.

The proposed budget provides a 6% pay increase for city employees next year. The pay hike is required because of existing contracts with unions representing the employees, Uberuaga said. The contracts do not expire until July, 1993.

The city’s firefighters are operating without a contract. The city and the firefighters have been unable to reach agreement on a new pact. But Uberuaga said the 1992-93 budget proposes a 6% pay raise for the firefighters, the same as it does for police and all other employees with existing contracts.