Newport looks at state budget impacts
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June Casagrande
All over the state, municipal governments are scrambling to figure
out exactly what the state budget will mean to their local finances.
At the same time, residents are struggling to understand the ways in
which the numbers will hit home.
Newport Beach City Councilman John Heffernan wants to spare this
city’s residents the pain of that uncertainty. Heffernan has asked
city staff to prepare a formal report to be presented in a regular
City Council meeting. The report will examine some of the finer
points of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget, looking at how much
the city stands to lose and analyzing where and how residents could
feel the crunch.
“Throughout the state, everyone’s hearing about things like
cutbacks in police and fire personnel, all kinds of talk about what
the governor’s budget will mean,” Heffernan said. “I’d like to see a
full presentation with the complete numbers so people can know
exactly what we’re looking at.”
Heffernan said he hopes the information can be presented during a
regular council meeting instead of in a study session, because more
people watch the council meetings, he said.
Schwarzenegger’s fiscal 2004-05 budget includes $1.3 billion in
cuts to local governments, but makes good on his promise to reinstate
car tax revenues to cities. Local officials are still examining the
actual numbers of the governor’s budget to figure out how much the
city might lose.
But it’s possible the city won’t lose at all. Newport Beach has
begun receiving car tax receipts from the state, which are
essentially gravy because the city’s spending plan doesn’t count car
taxes as a revenue source -- city fiscal experts thought it better
not to count on getting the money. If the governor’s cutbacks cost
Newport Beach only about $2.5 million, as one rough estimate
suggests, but returns $2.9 million in car taxes, the state cuts might
not hit home at all.
Even if they do, Mayor Tod Ridgeway has predicted that it’s highly
unlikely any police or fire personnel will be laid off.
“I certainly can’t envision any layoffs of safety personnel, but
it’s possible this could mean less hiring in the future,” Ridgeway
said last week.
The date of the budget presentation has not yet been set.
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