Oxnard OKs Budget Balanced by Utility Funds

Ventura County’s largest city has found the money to hire additional fire and police personnel this year, despite questions over the use of utility funds to balance Oxnard’s $62.8-million budget.

The City Council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to approve a spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1 after a lengthy and sometimes contentious debate.

Two council members feared that siphoning cash from the city’s water, sewage and garbage utilities to subsidize other municipal services could eventually lead to rate increases.

“It’s a very sensitive issue,” acknowledged City Manager Ed Sotelo as he accepted congratulations from municipal employees after the passage of his first city budget.

In working out the budget, Sotelo added $2.5 million in revenues from various sources. Included is $900,000 from city utility revenues set aside to reimburse the city for such costs as wear and tear on streets by garbage trucks--a sum that traditionally has been reinvested in utility operations.

The money to hire two more police dispatchers, three firefighters and a city planner will be in place Oct. 1. About $33.4 million--more than 53% of the total budget--is allocated to fire and police.

Officials say the new planner is needed to keep pace with development.

In addition, the budget calls for increasing spending by almost $200,000 on recreation items that range from services for senior citizens to park restrooms. Moreover, city officials plan to spend an extra $250,000 in an effort to reduce the backlog of city street repairs.

The $900,000 in utility money also erased a projected $900,000 budget deficit, striking a balance that seemed more than a coincidence to Councilmen Tom Holden and Dean Maulhardt.

The pair grumbled that the shuffling of cash to make ends meet hadn’t been fully explained to a public that might demand answers if a rate increase was later deemed necessary.

Although discussed in budget study sessions, the concept of infrastructure fees was not specifically mentioned in Sotelo’s narrative in the city’s budget document or in papers customarily provided to council members before the meeting.

Using utility funds to balance the city’s general budget and provide other services is not without precedent, Sotelo said. Costa Mesa, Oceanside and Pasadena--his former employer--used similar tactics, he said.

“Additional charges . . . will not cause a rate increase for two to three years,” Sotelo told the council.

In the end, Holden reluctantly supported the budget, but with the caveat the council hold a study session within two months to give the issue a greater public airing. Maulhardt cast the lone vote against approving the budget, questioning whether revenues really existed to support additional services.

“We don’t move money back and forth at the whim of balancing the budget,” Maulhardt said.

However, Councilman John Zaragoza praised Sotelo for producing an easy to understand budget that provided money not only to eliminate a projected deficit, but also to improve city services.

“I think this is the best budget we’ve had in years,” he said.