IRVINE : New Budget Increases Arts, Police Spending

After agreeing to increases in arts and police funding, the City Council this week tentatively approved a $63.6-million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year.

The council’s unanimous vote came early Wednesday after members reviewed and debated aspects of the plan.

The budget balances the city’s books without raising taxes or significantly cutting services. It was generally praised by council members, who requested relatively few modifications when they first examined the plan earlier this month.

At the council’s request, city officials will fill 3 1/2 positions in the Police Department that were slated for elimination under the original budget plan.

About $100,000 was also allocated to implement some of the recommendations made by the Safe Community Task Force, a committee of residents, city and school district officials that looked into ways of preventing youth crimes.

The funds will go to nonprofit groups that provide after-school programs, sports activities and summer events for children and teen-agers.

Also, the council voted to set aside about $100,000 to help form an independent arts agency. Most council members said the agency would take over some of the fund-raising duties now handled by cultural affairs manager Henry Korn, whose job was eliminated in the budget.

Councilwoman Christina L. Shea and other council members also supported a resolution that directed city officials to avoid using revenue-enhancement funds to balance future budgets. Such funds derive from the profits that the city earns when it takes out a low-interest loan and invests the money in high-interest investments.

Shea as well as some finance commissioners argued that using the revenue-enhancement funds to pay for city programs and employee salaries is unwise because returns on such investments can vary sharply from year to year.