City Tentatively OKs Plan to Balance Budget

Beverly Hills officials tentatively agreed this week on a $3-million combination of spending cuts, revenue increases and accounting techniques that will allow the city to balance its budget for the coming 12 months and stave off, at least temporarily, the specter of mass staff layoffs and tax increases.

The City Council members said they would raise about half of the funds by introducing a fee for garbage collection, a service that had been free. An additional $1 million will be raised by delaying the replacement of city vehicles, and an estimated $800,000 will be saved by freezing all employee salaries for a minimum of six months.

The budget adjustments, made in response to public outcry over earlier proposals that significant spending cuts be made in the city’s Police and Fire departments, are expected to be made final at the council’s next meeting on Tuesday night.

The city has been operating on an interim budget since the fiscal year started July 1.