LAGUNA NIGUEL : Budget Sessions Put on Hold Until July

Claiming that Laguna Niguel has been put at greater risk than any other city in the county by a state proposal to take a larger portion of vehicle license fees, city officials have decided to put budget workshops on hold until next month.

City Manager Tim Casey said belt-tightening at the state level could result in a disproportionate chunk of money being snipped from the city budget. The city’s $9.3-million general fund budget could be reduced by as much as $2.5 million, he said.

“That’s 26% of our general revenue, and I have yet to see any other city in Orange County whose cuts would be that deep,” he said. “Because of the uncertainty, the council has canceled all budget workshops until July 11.”

However, what Mayor Thomas W. Wilson called a “bare-bones budget just to make sure we don’t miss a beat” is scheduled to be adopted at the July 7 City Council meeting.

The city held its first budget workshop June 13, and other meetings had been scheduled throughout the month, Wilson said.

“We decided there’s no sense in us spending a lot of time line item by line item trying to put our budget together until they reach their solutions” at the state level, Wilson said.

City officials throughout Orange County have issued doomsday warnings about the effect of state proposals to take more property taxes and vehicle license fees.

In Laguna Niguel, a committee composed of Wilson, Councilwoman Patricia C. Bates and Casey will meet this week to begin a review of what services might be reduced or eliminated from the budget.

Wilson would not speculate on what services might be affected. However, Finance Director Dennis Miura said cuts could occur “across the board.”