COSTA MESA : City Hiring Freeze May Be Extended

City officials are expected to consider extending a hiring freeze and delay a manpower boost to the Fire Department in an effort to maintain a balanced budget for the next fiscal year.

The $68-million budget, which is expected to be adopted Monday, includes few new programs. In fact, the majority of the budget deals with ways to cut spending.

“We are just trying to keep everything together,” Finance Director Susan Temple said.

Like most Orange County cities, Costa Mesa has been hit hard by the recession and especially by plummeting sales tax revenue. For two consecutive years, sales tax totals have fallen, with the most recent estimates showing a decline of more than $2.7 million during that time.

To counter depressed economic trends, the City Council last July adopted a hiring freeze and instructed each department to begin looking for ways to trim their budgets. Since then, 32 positions have been eliminated through attrition and several programs have been pared or kept at current spending levels.

Even with these efforts, the budget for the fiscal year that closes at the end of this month is still about $500,000 short. To make up the difference, Temple said, money will be taken from reserves, leaving the reserve account with about $14 million.

City staff will recommend extending the hiring freeze throughout the current year. Nine firefighters were scheduled to be added when the new Metro Fire Station opened; however, it is now recommended that the new staffing be delayed and instead be made up by existing staff.

To help offset some of the lagging revenue, the council will consider raising some user fees, Temple said. As a result, residents could find themselves paying more to send their children to recreation classes or to obtain building permits. However, formal consideration of those proposals is not expected until later this summer.

One bright spot in the budget is an estimated $8.8 million slated for capital improvement projects. Boosted by Measure M transportation funds, the money will be used for several street rehabilitation projects, including the widening of Victoria Street.

Even with final budget approvals pending next week, questions still remain about how the city would deal with possible shortfalls should the state cut the flow of fees regularly distributed to cities.

Under consideration are several plans that could heavily impact Costa Mesa, including a possible cut in the city’s share of vehicle licensing fees. The city could lose about $3.4 million should the state cut the licensing fee payments.

The council is expected to consider the budget at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.