IRVINE : Council OKs Budget Cuts of $1.6 Million

In response to sluggish tax revenue, the City Council has voted for $1.6 million in budget cuts through a series of layoffs and belt-tightening measures.

About five full-time workers and three part-time workers will lose their jobs under the budget plan, which also calls for the freezing of 22 city positions.

City officials will attend fewer out-of-town conventions and the city will reduce the amount of capital equipment it replaces, City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said.

The council authorized the cuts last week, three months after it approved a $63-million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year.

The budget adjustments are necessary because tax and development fee revenue is running below estimates, Brady said.

Most of the layoffs will come in the community and administrative services departments. However, because the layoffs are based on seniority, longtime employees in those departments might be offered jobs elsewhere in City Hall and newer employees from other sections might lose their jobs, he said.

Several council members expressed reservations about freezing five positions in the Police Department, saying that public safety should be the city’s top priority.

But council members unanimously agreed to freeze the jobs after Police Chief Charles S. Brobeck said the move would not reduce the number of officers patrolling the streets.