Simi Budget Plan Avoids Firings, Cuts : Economy: Officials credit a 1992-93 freeze on hiring and tight-fisted spending policies for ending the year in the black.

As cities across the state warn of layoffs and reductions in services, the city of Simi Valley released a $25.2-million budget proposal Tuesday that will probably require no firings or catastrophic cuts, officials said.

Although the spending plan exceeds expected revenues by $342,500, Mayor Greg Stratton said the city could bridge the gap and balance the budget in the absence of further cuts by the state.

“It’s not going to be too difficult to bring it into balance,” Stratton said. “We started last year’s budget a million or so under balance and, despite state cuts, we ended up a million to the good. I think we can balance the budget without layoffs.”

Officials credit a reluctance to fill open positions and tight-fisted spending policies for allowing the city to end the 1992-93 fiscal year having taken in $1.19 million more than it spent, leaving Simi Valley with $13.6 million in reserves.

“We’ve held off hiring on a lot of positions and each department has gone through an exercise of fiscal restraint,” said Ken Schechter, city budget officer. “They just have not been spending money to whatever extent possible.”

One unknown still pending as the city enters this year’s budget process is the outcome of salary negotiations with the Police Department’s 99 sworn officers.

Schechter said it will cost the city an additional $77,500--not included in the budget--for each 1% raise awarded the officers.

Stratton said he could not speculate on the final contract terms between the city and its officers, but he did not believe the settlement would be a significant obstacle in balancing the budget.

Schechter described the spending plan as a preliminary budget.

“It’s kind of a starting point for the council to make any changes they feel are necessary,” he said.

“We give them, based on present staffing and present levels of service and current programs, what it will cost to run the city for the coming year and give them some idea what revenues are likely to be.”

The tool the council will use to balance the budget during four workshops scheduled next month is an 86-page list of possible cuts ranked in importance by each city department.

Listed items include a savings of $9,100 by eliminating the council’s attendance at the National League of Cities Conference in Washington; $57,500 that could be saved by not giving the chamber of commerce its request to fund a visitor information program; $20,000 in savings available by skipping a scenic roadway study, and $120,000 by reducing the city’s curb, gutter and sidewalk repair program.

Stratton said many items pop up on the list repeatedly and are either funded or delayed for another year.

“My gut feeling is that most of the things on there we’ve looked at before,” he said. “There’s always a hope that somebody down in the bowels of the organization will find something and put it on the list and we can look at it and say, ‘Why are we doing that?’ and cut it. But we haven’t seen something like that in a while.”

Councilwoman Judy Mikels said she would be hard-pressed to cut the council’s annual trip to Washington, which she said has more than paid for itself in lobbying results over the years.

“So far it has benefited us every time,” Mikels said of the excursion, which she described as three days packed with meetings aimed at furthering the city’s agenda at the federal level.

“It’s very easy for people to say it’s just a boondoggle, it’s their annual vacation to Washington,” Mikels said. “You should take such a vacation.”

The city will conduct a public briefing on the budget at 6 p.m. Thursday in the City Hall Community Room, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Schechter said.

The council will discuss individual city departments at budget workshops June 3, 10, 15 and 17, Schechter said, and is expected to adopt the city’s final budget June 21.