MISSION VIEJO : $35.2-Million Budget Sent to City Council

City officials, hoping that an election year for Sacramento legislators means no further cutbacks in state funding for local government, have presented a balanced budget to the City Council.

The proposed $35.2-million budget for fiscal 1994-95 will provide several new city programs but won’t set aside money for new, full-time employees.

In recent years, a state budget crunch has led legislators to take away tax revenues that usually go to cities. The state’s budget process has gone beyond the July 1 deadline for approving the state budget, forcing cities to put their budgets on hold for several weeks.

However, City Manager Fred Sorsabal doesn’t expect further reductions when the state budget is adopted this year.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen with this year being an election year,” Sorsabal said. “I don’t anticipate any further cutbacks.”

The good news for the city was a 14.2% increase in revenues, mainly from a sharp rise in sale tax receipts from local businesses.

“People say there’s a recession, but retail sales are really up in the community,” Sorsabal said. “For instance, Christmas sales-tax revenue was 18% higher” than the previous year.

Overall revenues will be $1.6 million greater than expenses for the city. Sorsabal recommended putting $500,000 of the windfall into a special account for fiscal emergencies.

The rest will go into reserve accounts to pay for unexpected expenses for maintenance needs such as storm drain repair.

There would be no cutbacks in current city programs. Funds were set aside to pay for such new programs as a 24-hour police patrol beat, designing a new library, storm drain renovation and a war chest for the El Toro Marine Air Base conversion.