CERRITOS : City May Get Sheriff’s Substation, School Gym

A new sheriff’s substation and a gymnasium at Whitney High School are among the projects included in an $84.4-million city budget expected to be adopted at tonight’s City Council meeting.

The proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 contains $32.3 million for redevelopment projects, including the substation and gymnasium, and $3.8 million for capital improvements.

The spending plan includes a $48.1-million operating budget, up 5.6% from the previous year to accommodate increases in the city’s contract for police services with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, expansion of the city’s transit system, and rising costs at the city’s Senior Center and the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

The redevelopment agency has allocated $5.4 million for the construction of a sheriff’s substation that would house deputies who are assigned to Cerritos but who currently are based at a station in Lakewood.

The redevelopment agency budget also includes $400,000 for the design of a gymnasium at Whitney High School, which currently has no such facility. An additional $2 million would be spent over the next two years to build the gymnasium.

As part of a similar agreement, the city is expected to spend $873,100 this year to finish a $2.6-million gymnasium expansion at Cerritos High School.

The council meeting is at 7 p.m.