Council Deletes Airport Funds From Budget

Caving in to pressure from Congress, the Los Angeles City Council on Monday voted to remove $30 million in airport funds from next year’s budget, saying the money is too shaky to rely on.

The money was a linchpin of Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposal to increase police and other services.

“We should not fight with sledgehammers when the other side is dropping bombs,” Councilman Nate Holden said, referring to recent threats from Washington that $500 million in federal funds for the Alameda Corridor and Metrorail could be jeopardized by Riordan’s bid to divert LAX revenues to the city’s ailing general fund.

“It’s not a good idea to drive through an intersection when the red light is clearly showing,” added Holden, chairman of the council’s Transportation Committee. “Sometimes you might get through, but most times you’ll get in an accident or be killed.”

The deletion of the $30 million--which Riordan says would repay decades-old loans the city gave the airport for capital improvements--and the council’s refusal Monday to approve an $8-million waste-water franchise fee for 1995-96 eats away at the $50-million cushion a council committee had provided in its revisions to the mayor’s $4-billion spending plan. Deletion of that revenue increases the pressure on the council to scale back Riordan’s proposed expansion of the Police Department, though discussion of that funding was postponed until today.

The airline industry, which has vigorously fought any diversion of airport revenue at City Hall and on Capitol Hill, exulted in Monday’s move by the council, which came after two hours behind closed doors.

“This is a key victory,” said Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transport Assn., which represents most major airlines. “We hope today’s bold but prudent action by the City Council will rekindle the 30-year partnership between the city and the industry that made LAX great.”

But Riordan staffers said they are not backing off from the attempt to pull money from the airport’s rich coffers. Although the $30 million will not be included in the budget document, mayoral aides said the city will continue to pursue it.

“The mayor continues to believe it is important and absolutely appropriate to pursue the money owed to Angelenos by the airport,” said a statement released by Riordan’s office. “Today’s council action does not appear to preclude the city from pursuing these funds.”

The deletion of the airport revenue came during the full council’s first deliberations on the budget, a marathon seven-hour session that included a working lunch of deli sandwiches and chocolate cake. Throughout the day, LAPD brass swarmed the council chambers, lobbying against the proposed cutbacks to the department: Reducing the number of new officers from 710 to 450 next year and holding back half of Riordan’s proposed $40 million of overtime funds in case other revenues fail to come through.

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The council will consider LAPD appropriations today, along with 32 motions introduced by individual lawmakers late Monday. Most of the new motions are narrow, pet projects and probably will be referred to committee rather than voted on as part of the budget.

Though it avoided the most controversial questions, the council on Monday did approve several key initiatives, adding $31 million in revenues by raising residents’ monthly sanitation equipment charge from $4.50 to $6 (and from $3 to $4.50 for multifamily dwellings), upping parking-ticket fines of $10 each, and raising Department of Building and Safety fees to recover 100% of costs.

Using some of those extra funds, council members approved several expenditures beyond Riordan’s proposal, including:

* $3.5 million more for the Fire Department;

* $1.4 million to launch a safe parks program, hire new park rangers, maintain facilities and provide youth activities;

* $1 million to restore 107 crossing guards;

* $500,000 to buy books for new libraries;

* $219,410 to elevate the Human Relations Commission to a full-fledged department.

The council, however, balked at one key committee proposal to balance the budget, rejecting an $8-million waste-water franchise fee for 1995-96. Riordan’s budget includes that fee for the upcoming fiscal year, and to bolster the contingency fund, officials had suggested transferring $8 million of the current surplus in the waste-water system to the general fund for next year.

Worried that using the surplus eventually would lead to a hike in sewer fees on residents and businesses, council members Richard Alarcon, Marvin Braude, Hal Bernson, Laura Chick, Mike Hernandez, Holden, Rudy Svorinich and Joel Wachs voted against the proposal.

Budget Committee Chairman Richard Alatorre said he will try to persuade his colleagues to reconsider their decision on the fee as they confront the most difficult choices today.

“Hey, folks, we don’t have a balanced budget now because of what you did,” Alatorre said as the council adjourned. “We’re operating like we have all the money in the world. Uh-uh.”