MOORPARK : City Reports $600,000 in Surplus Funds

Frugal spending habits over the last year and a dramatic increase in sales tax revenue have left Moorpark with nearly $600,000 in surplus funds, but the city will need that money to make up a projected budget shortfall during the coming fiscal year, city officials said.

A preliminary budget shows a $225,000 shortfall in Moorpark’s $4.9-million budget next fiscal year, said Assistant City Manager Richard Hare. The biggest single new expense is the $78,000 the city will spend in the coming year to qualify for a federal grant to hire a new sheriff’s deputy.

Moorpark already spends about $2.6 million, or more than 60% of its General Fund, on police services provided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Hare said.

The new deputy will come to the city as part of the Clinton Administration’s crime bill initiative to get more cops on the beat. As part of the so-called Cops Fast Grant, a new deputy will work in the city for the next three years.

The federal government’s share of the cost of the new deputy is $25,000 each year, while the city will have to pitch in the lion’s share of the cost with $298,000 over three years.

Despite the projected shortfall in the 1995-96 budget, Hare said the city would be able to balance its budget by “holding the line on expenditures” and using surplus funds.

The biggest question for city leaders when they discuss the budget at a meeting next Wednesday is what they will have to cut if they have to turn over more tax revenue to the state, Hare said.

“The state has been balancing the budget on the backs of cities and counties, so what happens in Sacramento is our biggest concern,” he said.