GLENDALE : Council to Continue Work on City Budget

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday will continue hammering out the details of the city’s $330 million 1995-96 budget.

City officials say Glendale’s budget outlook has continued to improve slowly but steadily from the recessionary problems of 1992-93, when dwindling revenues forced the city to lay off a handful of employees and cut services. This year’s budget, though $2.7 million less than last year’s, still provides for the hiring of five new police officers and requires no departments to cut services, said City Manager David Ramsay.

In addition to improvement in the economy, Ramsay attributed the lack of budget woes to the “expenditure-control” system adopted last year.

Currently, the most significant fee increase the council has approved is a 7.7% water rate increase, which is needed to pay the cost of a federally mandated ground water cleanup program and expected rate increases from the Metropolitan Water District, the city’s main supplier.

However, City departments have requested several million dollars to increase services this year and the council is considering increasing fees on certain types of plan checks, increasing the amount of debt service the Glendale Redevelopment Agency pays the city annually, and transferring money from the capital improvement program to make up the difference, officials said.

The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 613 E. Broadway.