ANAHEIM : 3 on Council Back Extending Utility Tax

A City Council majority indicated Tuesday that it will support an extension of the utility-users tax past its scheduled Sept. 30 expiration.

Councilmen Bob D. Simpson, Irv Pickler and Fred Hunter said that because of the city’s financial crisis, they see no way to eliminate the 2% tax, which was imposed two years ago and generates about $9 million annually for the city. It costs the average resident $3 a month, city officials say.

City officials are projecting that they may have to lay off up to 23 employees to help make up a nearly $8-million shortfall in revenues as the state takes a larger portion of money that formerly went to municipalities. Officials predict that the city will have to do without about $2.9 million in property tax money and $5 million in redevelopment money that would otherwise have flowed into city coffers. A vote on whether to extend the utility tax will probably occur before July 1, the council’s deadline for adopting the city’s next budget.

“It would be irresponsible” to eliminate the tax, Simpson said. “The city has a dreadful shortage of funds and needs to act responsibly.”

Pickler pointed out that the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed the tax, recently said it would not oppose a one-year extension.

The comments were made during a joint meeting the council held with its Budget Advisory Commission, a 10-member board of residents and business leaders who help it plan the budget. Both bodies are hammering out details of the fiscal 1993-94 budget proposal.

The proposal assumes revenue of $135 million and a work force of about 1,900 employees. There would be no raises for any city employees.

Mayor Tom Daly and Councilman Frank Feldhaus, who were elected last November partly on promises that they would work to eliminate the utility tax, said they will vote against the extension.

Daly said the budget could be trimmed by selling or leasing city-run enterprises such as its two municipal golf courses to private operators.

The utility tax was a major issue in last fall’s mayoral race, as Daly used Hunter’s support of the levy as a primary weapon to defeat Hunter, who had been mayor for two terms. Hunter, who retained his seat on the council, criticized Daly last December for failing to follow through on his promises to rescind the tax.