ORANGE : City Considering Fee Increases, Layoffs

The City Council is considering increasing fees for city services, raising the city’s hotel bed tax, continuing with employee work furloughs, and possible worker layoffs in an effort to close a $9.1-million budget deficit. The proposed fee change most residents will notice quickest is in the fine for overdue books from the city library. It may go up from 15 cents a day to 20 cents. The costs for taking city community services classes also may go up.

The City Council on Tuesday ordered that a proposed ordinance be drafted on the fee increases. The actions come after a committee submitted its findings on the city’s financial condition.

The council agreed with a majority of the group’s recommendations, including studying the possibility of raising the hotel bed tax from 8% to 10% and fee increases for city services.

But the council rejected the possibility of a 2% utility tax on such services as electricity and gas, instead deciding to consider charging landowners a $50-per-parcel assessment fee for public safety services. The surcharge would require a two-thirds vote by residents.

Councilwoman Joanne Coontz was the only one to vote against studying an assessment election, saying the chances of its gaining a two-thirds vote were so slim and that the cost of holding an election would be a waste of money.

“We need to address immediate financial needs,” Coontz said. “We need to bite the bullet now.”

Although the panel suggested cutting the Police and Fire departments budgets by 7%, no motions to do that were made by council members Tuesday.

But it will be city employees who will feel the brunt of the council’s actions.

Council members decided unanimously to negotiate with the unions representing non-safety employees to continue a worker furlough that resulted in a temporary 10% pay cut imposed last fall on non-safety employees. The pay cut has been scheduled to end on June 30.

The council voted to prepare a list of at least 30 city positions--including some in the public safety departments--that could be cut if layoffs become necessary for fiscal 1993-94.

Employee groups told of their opposition to layoffs and a furlough program.

“We are very concerned that the city may decide to balance the budget on the backs of its employees,” said Larry Lykins, a representative of the Orange County Employees Assn., which represents several of the Orange employee groups. “I believe employees have already been cut to the bone.”

Councilman William G. Steiner said that hard decisions by the city could no longer be put off.

“The reality is the city of Orange is a pretty leaky financial boat,” Steiner said. “We can argue about how big the leak is, who will bail the water out of the boat, the direction of the boat, even who should be in the boat but if we don’t do that the boat will sink.”