City Finds $2.2-Million Windfall in Its Budget : Ventura: The unexpected boost in revenues and fees may help officials avoid layoffs in the police and fire departments.

Ventura city officials say they have $2.2 million more than they had anticipated this year and hope to avoid laying off as many as six police officers, two code enforcement officers and a fire prevention technician.

City officials had expected to lay off employees and cut at least $1.5 million from Ventura’s operating budget in the next few months. However, because of higher-than-projected revenues from fees, taxes and various city departments, city staff announced this week that they have an extra $730,000 instead of a $1.5-million deficit.

The surplus means that termination notices are more unlikely when the City Council adopts the budget in June, officials said.

“This is a much better position to be in than we were last year,” Councilman Greg Carson said.

Carson gave credit to city employees for helping raise about $602,000 of the $2.2-million windfall. City workers came up with the money after council members told them last year that jobs could be saved if police, firefighters and code enforcement officers came up with additional revenues.

The Police Department generated an additional $210,000 by making sure that more residents paid their parking tickets. The Fire Department, which oversees code enforcement, got $167,000 through its weed abatement program and increased inspections. By contracting fire services for Ventura Avenue from the county, the Fire Department raised an additional $70,000. An additional $155,000 for police was obtained through a federal grant.

“We gave them incentives to produce revenues that would go back into saving their jobs,” Carson said.

Ventura Police Officer Greg Hayes, one of the six officers whose job may be saved, said he was happy to hear the news.

“I didn’t push the panic button, but I was a little anxious,” Hayes said, recalling when he was told of a possible layoff in June. “I think it’s good for the city that the money’s going toward police service and, on a personal level, it’s fantastic.”

A draft budget released Wednesday recommends that funding for all departments and services remain much the same as the last fiscal year.

In a letter to the council, City Manager John Baker calls the proposed budget a “status quo” spending plan and warns council members that they may still have to make cuts if the state Legislature decides later this year to take money from cities as it has in the past. But the city’s lobbyist has predicted that that is unlikely in the state’s 1994-95 fiscal budget.

“I feel better than I did last year at this time,” Baker said.

Last fiscal year, city leaders went through a grim time adopting Ventura’s $44-million operating budget. The council slashed $4.3 million, eliminated 65 jobs, laid off 15 employees, instituted a hiring freeze and cut costs in every department.

Police and code enforcement officers’ positions were scheduled to be gradually eliminated over the next two years, but now the “modest turnaround” in the economy may help save their jobs, said Terry Adelman, who oversees the city’s finances.

In addition to savings by city departments, Adelman said the economic boost helped improve the city’s financial picture. The increases include a jump of $635,000 in sales tax revenue compared to last year and a property tax increase of $48,000. Business license fees grew by $129,000, licensing and permit fees increased by $112,000, and building fees were up $51,000, he said. The city also restructured its investment portfolio and gained $190,000 in interest earnings.

Adelman said that city staff projections last year were too conservative and that council members cut $2 million more than they needed.

“We were over-prepared,” Adelman said. “The council took a bold step last year cutting more than they had to in order to prepare for the future.”

Adelman said he is encouraging the council to make conservative decisions with the $730,000 surplus because the city’s debt-service payments are scheduled to increase by $666,000 in 1996.

NEXT STEP

The City Council’s Finance Committee will hold public meetings on the budget April 6 and 27, and May 11 and 25 at Ventura City Hall. In May, the committee is scheduled to make a budget recommendation to the entire council. The council will hold public hearings on the budget at its regular June meetings and is scheduled to adopt the budget before June 30.