Layoffs, Severe Cuts in Service Not Likely

Port Hueneme plans no severe cuts in services or layoffs of city workers, despite an anticipated budget deficit of about $1.3 million over the next two years, municipal officials said.

The City Council today is scheduled to get its first peek at the city’s $18-million, two-year budget at a City Hall study session.

“We’re not in a disaster mode like we were a few years ago,” Finance Director Jim Hanks said. “[But] we’re going to be faced with making cuts.”

Four years ago the city gutted recreation programs and eliminated 12 staff positions.

Cuts this year are expected to come from a list of proposed big-ticket purchases, which include a new $150,000 air-conditioning system for City Hall, Hanks said.

The budget shortfall is caused by the proposed capital outlays and the loss of more than $600,000 over the next two years from a drainage assessment district. That loss stems from recently enacted Proposition 218, which curbed the power of local governments to tax property owners.

Last year, the citywide drainage assessment district brought in about $460,000; this year it is just over $145,000. Port Hueneme used the money to subsidize its parks department, Hanks said.

The city has accrued $2.6 million in reserves that could cover the deficit, but City Council members must decide how much they should raid the city’s savings, Hanks said.

The City Council is expected to adopt a temporary budget tonight that will keep the municipality operating until trims are selected. A final biennial budget must be adopted by Aug. 30.