VENTURA : City Cuts Spending 18% in Fiscal Year

Ventura cut general government spending by 18% between June, 1993, and June of this year, according to the city’s annual financial report released Friday.

The report reviews the city’s finances for the 1993-94 fiscal year, which began July 1, 1993, and ended June 30.

The report also states that the city’s sales-tax revenue rose 1% from the prior fiscal year. Although that is a good indicator of a strengthening economy, officials say, it still falls short of the 8% increases of the late 1980s.

Overall, city revenues dropped by 9% in the last fiscal year. City officials attributed this, in part, to declining returns on investments and decreases in some development-related fees.

Despite all the spending cuts, the report states, the city still began this fiscal year with more than $2 million in reserves--above and beyond the amount the city usually keeps in its savings as a cushion against emergencies.