Anaheim City Council Approves Budget-Balancing Plan : Spending: Refusing to raise revenue by extending a 2% utility tax, it agrees to lay off 10 workers, trim non-public safety costs and take $2 million from municipal reserves.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget-balancing measure that lays off 10 employees, cuts non-public safety spending by $400,000 and takes $2 million from the city’s savings accounts.

Also, a council majority again refused to extend the city’s 2% utility tax beyond its scheduled Sept. 30 expiration.

Mayor Tom Daly said that while he would have preferred sparing the city’s library and parks departments, he was generally pleased that the proposed $135-million budget had been cut by $1.7 million. The budget covers spending between last July 1 and next June 30.

“There will be a few cuts that will be painful for the community, but for the most part this is a budget-balancing plan that was long overdue,” Daly said, adding that he thinks even more cuts can eventually be made. “There is still too much overhead, and not enough attention is being paid to new ways of conducting city business, such as contracting out for services.”

The council had been asked by City Manager James D. Ruth to approve the plan, which became necessary after the council on a 3-2 vote in June unexpectedly refused to extend the utility tax--which is imposed on telephone, electric, water and gas bills--cutting the city’s revenue by $6 million. The tax had a two-year “sunset clause” attached to it when it was adopted in 1991.

Councilman Fred Hunter, who voted against the extension after once being the tax’s most outspoken supporter, said again Tuesday that he will not reconsider his vote unless the bulk of the tax revenue is used to hire more police officers.

“We only have 1.3 cops for every 1,000 residents, and they are paid almost the lowest of any city in the county,” said Hunter, a former Anaheim police officer. “So unless and until this city and this council are totally committed to hiring more police officers, I will not vote to extend the utility tax.”

Councilman Irv Pickler, who supported the tax, asked that the council reconsider extending the levy. But he only received support from Councilman Bob D. Simpson.

Pickler said that the city has several problems needing to be addressed, including increased crime and reduced library and park hours, and that it needs the tax revenue.

“Everybody knows we have these problems, and without the money, we are going to have deeper problems,” Pickler said.

According to Ruth, six of the employees to be laid off work for the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department, while four work at the Anaheim Convention Center. They will be laid off Sept. 9.

With these cuts, Ruth said, the city’s work force will shrink to about 1,900 from 2,143 in mid-1991. Thirty-three other jobs that were vacant because of retirements or resignations were also eliminated Tuesday.

Sharon Ericson, president of the Anaheim Municipal Employees Assn., the union that represents the employees, said the city should have looked for other ways to cut spending before “laying off the little guy again.”

She pointed out that the council agreed Tuesday to spend more than $48,000 to rehire retired Police Chief Jimmie Kennedy for four months while the city looks for a replacement for Chief Joseph T. Molloy, who died last month.

“I have nothing against Jimmie Kennedy, but they have five captains at the Police Department, any one of whom is capable of being interim chief,” Ericson said.

Ruth said that after taking $2 million from its reserves, the city will still have $14 million left in its savings accounts.

“But depletion of one’s reserves is not a prudent practice in government or in any type of business,” Ruth said.

He then added a warning: If the city’s economic picture does not change or the council does not reinstate the utility tax, $11.8 million will have to be cut from the budget next year.