South Bay : Council Approves Deficit-Cutting Plan

Hoping to eliminate a budget deficit of more than $3 million, the Gardena City Council has endorsed a plan that includes raising ambulance service rates and some bus fares and charging garbage collection companies a franchise free.

A committee established to come up with a deficit-reduction plan was given three requirements, Mayor Don Dear said. “We told them we wanted to . . . not cut services, we wanted to save jobs and we wanted to have user-based revenue as opposed to overall tax increases on all the citizens.”

The plan, presented to the City Council earlier this week, outlines measures that city officials expect to generate enough revenue to get the city in the black by June 1997. A public hearing on the proposal will be held Feb. 13.

Gardena already has limited spending with a 2% across-the-board cut in the budget and a freeze on hiring and contracts for consulting services. Officials estimate that those adjustments have saved more than $200,000.