Oxnard Budget to Be Pared Further

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday decided to revisit the city’s bare-bones 1993-94 budget in coming weeks and trim more services to pay $605,000 in property tax money it now owes the state.

“It’s not a matter of cutting closer to the bone,” City Manager Vernon Hazen said. “We’re into the bone.”

City officials knew the state tax bill was coming; in fact, they expected it would be twice as large. But, they did not factor the payment into the cuts made before the budget was passed in late June.

Hazen proposed that the council take the additional $605,000 owed to the state out of reserve funds. But after a lengthy, sometimes heated discussion, the council decided not to follow Hazen’s plan.

“I don’t like the idea of turning to reserves just to take the hammer off our heads,” Councilman Tom Holden said.

Councilman Andres Herrera agreed that the council should not dip into the city’s reserve fund. “I was always told the reserves were for dire emergencies,” he said.

Oxnard has about $8 million in its reserves, which Hazen described as low for a healthy economy but acceptable given the present economic conditions.

Councilman Michael Plisky said the council has more room for paring, given that the council originally considered $3 million in cuts before reaching agreement on the present budget, which eliminates $2.2 million in municipal services.

“This is not uncommon,” Plisky said after the meeting. “You set your budget at the beginning of the year, but these are ongoing expenses. If we don’t make the cuts now, we’ll have to make them later.”

Even if the council trims an additional $605,000 from the budget to offset the property tax payment, Hazen said preliminary figures show than the city faces another $1.6 million in cuts next year.

The council scheduled to begin their review of the budget in two weeks.

Hazen said the council may consider trimming travel and training expenses for city workers, and reducing the number of city commissions and boards. “The most cuttable items have already been cut,” he said.

Hazen said it is not yet known if the new cuts will mean layoffs for city employees, but he fears they may be inevitable. “It’s too soon to tell,” he said.

Council members said they were opposed to layoffs.