VENTURA : Use of Reserves Urged to Cut Budget Deficit

Required by City Charter to adopt a budget before July 1, the Ventura City Council tonight will consider a proposal that calls for spending nearly $4.5 million more than it expects to receive in taxes.

The draft budget includes $51 million in general fund and capital improvement projects--costing $4.45 million more than analysts project that the city will receive between July 1 and June 30, 1996.

But City Manager Donna Landeros said the city can balance the budget by taking $4.45 million out of its cash reserves--a move she said would be necessary for only one year.

Landeros recommends that the council adopt the proposed budget but continue downsizing the city bureaucracy to cut costs.

Part of the deficit is related to hiring three extra police officers and granting $1.1 million in pay raises to most of the city’s employees earlier this year.

Council members approved the raises knowing that they would need to pay them with reserve funds but said they were needed to keep pay levels even with nearby cities.

The City Council also agreed earlier this year to set aside $1.8 million for a downtown parking garage--a key component of a proposal to build a multiplex theater and retail center at Main and Palm streets.

Mayor Tom Buford said the city is in reasonably good shape, despite the lingering recession.

“We’d like to bring in more money than we spend, but the reserve can help cushion the time until the economy turns around,” said Buford, who said recent efforts to stimulate tourism will translate to increased revenues.

“I don’t view [the deficit] as a crisis, but we need to be building a foundation for an economy of the future,” he said.