Anaheim Budget Adds 9 Officers, Cuts 31 Other Positions : Finances: Plan boosts branch library schedules, retains gang-prevention program. Council will prevent $8-million shortfall by trimming expenditures.

Nine more police officers would patrol city streets under a budget plan unveiled Tuesday, but 31 positions in other departments would be eliminated, including nine management jobs.

The proposed $133-million general fund budget for 1995-96 also calls for the city to reopen its branch libraries on Mondays and for continued funding of gang-prevention activities the city funded on a temporary basis last fall.

“We think it’s a very responsible budget that directs its energies to the city’s concerns,” City Manager James D. Ruth said.

The city faced an $8-million shortfall as it began its budget preparations. The gap would be closed by reducing a planned contribution to a reserve fund by $4 million, cutting $1 million from the budget and adding about $3 million in onetime revenue, Ruth said Tuesday during a news briefing.

The city’s total proposed 1995-96 budget is about $573 million, an 8.5% decline from last year due to decreased spending by its Public Utilities Department. The discretionary general fund would be $132.7 million, down about $4 million from last fiscal year.

The proposed addition of nine police officers comes after an increase of 22 officers in last year’s budget. In the past five years, the city has added 42 sworn personnel to the force, which now has 384 sworn officers. The new officers included in the 1995-96 budget would be partially funded by a federal program.

“It clearly reflects our commitment to public safety at a time when we think that is where we should be putting our resources,” Ruth said.

The elimination of the 31 positions in other areas reflects a continuing trend of another kind. The city has reduced its work force by 241 positions since 1991, including 45 management posts.

It is not yet known how many city employees would face layoffs under the proposed budget, but Ruth said that “in the past, we have been very successful in placing people in vacant positions in the city.”

The reduction in positions comes after a major reorganization among several city departments that will save the city about 800,000 annually. The proposed reductions include:

* Merging the operations of Anaheim Stadium and Anaheim Convention Center into a single department, eliminating four management positions.

* Downsizing the city’s Data Processing Department, which would result in the elimination of four management positions.

* Eliminating the investment officer’s post in the city treasurer’s office.

Other cuts were made in the city’s administration, city clerk and planning departments. Funding for the city’s Visitors and Convention Bureau was reduced slightly.

“We are doing everything we can to reduce costs and operate more efficiently,” Ruth said. “It’s been a tough grind and we’re still not at the end of the tunnel, but we are beginning to see the light.”

The effects of the Orange County financial crisis on city budgeting appear to be minimal, despite the fact that the city had $169 million in the now-collapsed investment pool.

“We are very solvent and have dealt with bankruptcy issues,” Ruth said. “Things are looking up, not down. We think (the bankruptcy) had about a $2-million impact, which is a loss in interest income. That’s our hit.”

The City Council will conduct a series of public hearings before adopting the budget. The hearings are scheduled for 2 p.m. on June 6, 13 and 20. The council is scheduled to adopt the budget on June 20.

Although the proposed budget covers two years, the council will vote only on a budget for the 1995-96 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

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Anaheim’s Purse Strings

The city of Anaheim’s preliminary 1995-96 budget calls for $573.4 million in revenue and expenditures. Here’s the expected breakdown of both:

Revenue

Public utilities 50.5% General fund 23.0 Convention center, stadium, golf 9.2 Other funds/fund balance 7.2 Sanitation fund 5.8 Restricted transportation funds 4.3

Expenditures

Public utilities 52.0% General fund 23.1 Convention center, stadium, golf 9.3 Other funds 6.0 Sanitation fund 5.7 Restricted transportation funds 3.9

Source: City of Anaheim

Researched by GREG HERNANDEZ / Los Angeles Times