Port Hueneme Cuts $371,000 From City Budget

The Port Hueneme City Council on Wednesday voted to eliminate eight jobs, cut the city’s landscape maintenance and close the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center.

The sweeping cuts will lead to staff reductions at Moranda Park and the elimination of funding for the city’s lifeguard service. The city has proposed that the lifeguards be paid for by raising rates for residents in an existing beach maintenance assessment district. The council will also seek to place on the ballot a measure to raise property taxes to help fund the Police Department.

City officials also commissioned an $18,000 study of whether to contract with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. The city will also study a new assessment district to pay for park landscape and maintenance.

The $371,000 in cuts were made in an effort to balance the city’s $7.2-million budget, city officials said.

Port Hueneme officials had already slashed $741,000 from the city’s general fund expenses in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 fiscal years, but more cuts were needed to balance this year’s budget, City Manager Dick Velthoen said.