Anaheim Council Studies Job-Cut Proposal That Would Include Layoffs : Budget: Reductions in state funds could eliminate 43 city positions. It will be worse unless the temporary utility tax is extended.

ANAHEIM —  Faced with cuts in state revenue, the city of Anaheim will have to eliminate 43 jobs, possibly laying off as many as 23 employees to balance its 1993-94 budget, according to a proposal being considered by the City Council.

The impact on jobs and city services will be even more severe if the council does not extend a temporary utility tax when it expires Sept. 30, the proposed budget released Wednesday states.

The calculations in the proposed budget, however, make the politically explosive assumption that the tax will be extended. Whether to renew the tax has been a bitter and divisive issue among the councilmen.

Mayor Tom Daly said Wednesday that he would not support any budget plan that renews the tax.

“In an operation as large as Anaheim, I’m sure other cost-saving measures could be found,” he said. “I think that we should look at more privatization and find better ways to get more money from our assets like the stadium and convention center.”

Without the extension, however, the city would lose $6 million in revenue, requiring substantial cuts, according to City Manager James D. Ruth.

He said that if the city did not have that revenue, cuts in police and fire might be necessary.

“It would impact the safety of the city,” Ruth said.

The fiscal 1994 budget proposal assumes revenue of $135 million and a work force of about 1,900.

The tax is a 2% levy on all telephone, water, electric and gas bills. It brings in nearly $9 million in revenue and costs the average resident $3 a month.

The proposal, which was given to the council last week and submitted Wednesday to the city’s Budget Advisory Commission, also states that there would be no salary raises for any city employee.

The utility tax became a major issue in the City Council elections last fall, and Councilman Fred Hunter blamed his defeat for reelection as mayor on his support for the tax.

But even with the utility tax in place for next year, the city faces a tough job in balancing the budget, said Ruth, who has been working on the 1993-94 proposal for the last 18 months.

Compared to the last fiscal year, there is about $1.7 million less revenue going into the city’s general fund, which pays for basic city services, such as police and fire.

Because of the eroding state funds, cuts in jobs had to be made, Ruth said.

City officials are projecting that they will have to make up for a nearly $8-million shortfall in revenues as the state takes a larger portion of monies that formerly went to municipalities. Officials predict that the city will have to do without about $2.9 million in property tax money and $5 million in redevelopment money that would otherwise have flowed into city coffers.

Of the 43 positions being eliminated, eight are management jobs, including the directors of human resources and maintenance, and the manager of the city’s golf courses and the managers of special projects and support services.

The Fire Department would ax two arson investigator positions and the Police Department would eliminate five non-sworn positions that are currently vacant.

Retirements and cuts in vacant positions would account for about 20 of the jobs to be eliminated, Ruth said, but cutting another 23 jobs may require layoffs, he said.

In the last three years, the city has eliminated nearly 10% of its staff. If the cutbacks in the proposed budget are adopted about 200 jobs will have been eliminated since 1990.

The budget outlook was bad news to many city departments that have been forced to maintain service levels while slashing staff.

Sharon Ericson, president of the Anaheim Municipal Employees Assn., the city’s largest union, said many of the proposed layoffs will affect parks workers, custodians and data processors.

“Once again, they are going after the little guys,” Ericson said. “There are a lot of areas where they could make cuts--car allowances, meeting allowances, traveling expenses, remodeling offices--but instead they cut the low-paying jobs.

“I can’t see how that is going to help them that much,” she added. “And I still think the city is overloaded with management positions. They say they have been cutting them back, but all they really do is move them around. We’re very down right now.”

In addition to the state cutbacks, the city’s budget is affected by only “modest” increases in both sales and transient occupancy taxes, according to the proposal.

Times correspondent Terry Spencer contributed to this story.

Anaheim Budget: Comings and Goings Anticipating the state taking a larger bite of revenue that in the past has gone to the cities, the city of Anaheim may have to lay off 23 workers and eliminate 43 other jobs. A look at where the city raises revenue and how it spends the money. In millions of dollars for fiscal year 1992-93. Revenue sources: $135.0 Bed taxes: $34.5 Sales taxes: $34.0 Other: $24.2 Utility user taxes: $8.9 Property taxes: $14.9 Fees, permits, business licenses: $18.5 Expenditures: $135.0 Police, fire: $74.5 Other: $14.2 City Council departments: $10.3 Community development, planning: $10.6 Public works: $12.2 Parks, recreation: $13.2 Source: City of Anaheim