ANAHEIM : Council to Take Up Budget Cuts Tonight

The city’s police helicopters, two senior centers, a center for the handicapped, a library and as many as 185 full-time jobs could be eliminated tonight as the City Council copes with budget cuts in the wake of its decision to rescind a utility tax.

Faced with paring $14 million from the city’s $544-million budget, the council will be asked to scale back or eliminate more than 100 programs and services under a plan presented by the city staff. The suggested cuts range from delaying the purchase of new City Hall furniture to the remote possibility that the city might close some fire stations and lay off 30 police officers.

Expecting a crowd in excess of the 140 people the council chambers can seat, the council will hold the 5 p.m. meeting at the Celebrity Theatre of Anaheim at 201 E. Broadway, about a block from City Hall.

“The council really felt that the city needed to tighten its belt and reduce its expenses, so the staff went back and made its cuts,” City Manager James Ruth said. “Never before in the history of the city has it experienced anything this difficult.”

All city departments were asked to suggest ways to reduce their budgets by 25%, except for the Police and Fire departments, which were asked to map out 10% cuts.

The staff then took those proposed cuts and listed them in order from those having the least impact on city services to those having the greatest impact on the largest number of residents or their safety.

Some of the cuts that the staff is recommending, such as curtailing employee training and travel and city photocopying, will have little direct impact on residents, Ruth and his staff said.

Others, such as failing to install computers in the Planning Department, will cause delays for those seeking building and remodeling licenses, Budget Manager Ken Stone said.

But some, such as the closure of the West Anaheim Senior Center, the Senior Day Care Center, the Therapeutic Recreation Center and an undisclosed library branch, would affect thousands of residents, Stone said.

Grounding the city’s police helicopters would eliminate a valuable tool for apprehending criminals and could lead to more high-speed chases through city streets as police cars and not a helicopter will have to follow fleeing felons, according to city reports.

If the council decides that it does not want to close such centers or a library branch, then it may have to begin laying off police officers and firefighters, according to the staff report.

The council voted 3 to 2 last month to impose a 4% tax on utility users, which would have eliminated the budget deficit. But residents complained, and Councilman William D. Ehrle earlier this month reversed his vote in favor of the tax and provided the deciding vote to rescind it.