City will lose $1.9 million

Jenny Marder Marisa O’Neil Andrew Edwards

Huntington Beach stands to lose $1.9 million, and students at Golden

West College may pay as much as 44% more for tuition under Gov.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s $99.1-billion budget plan released Friday.

Local officials are outraged by the governor’s budget, which would

raise the amount the state collects in local property taxes by $1.3

billion.

For Surf City, this could mean even more cuts to police, fire and

other core city services, Assistant City Administrator Bill Workman

said. It could also result in more layoffs.

On July 7, the City Council voted to cut 37 positions and several

programs to cover an $11.5 million shortfall caused by state losses,

increasing mandates and a sluggish economy.

Now, department heads are being charged with reexamining their

budgets to determine where more cuts can be made.

“This means that the general fund, which pays for most of our core

city services -- police, fire and public works -- will have fewer

revenues to provide services in the coming year,” Workman said.

The budget came as a surprise, since the governor had promised to

keep cities and counties unharmed, Workman added.

“We work hard to make the best use of the dollars we have, and

this is another significant blow to our ability to pay for basic

services that citizens want on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

In 1992, the city lost 25% of its property tax revenue when the

state shifted several billion dollars a year in local government

property taxes to schools and then reduced state aid to schools by

the same amount. Known as the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund,

this action has cost Huntington Beach $80 million over the past

decade, or $8.3 million every year.

Now, the money the city receives in property tax revenue will drop

from $30.9 million annually to $29 million. Property tax makes up the

largest source of general fund revenue.

At community colleges, including those at Golden West College,

fees will go up from $18 per unit to $26 per unit to help the state

out of its hole. And UC fees will increase 10% for undergraduate

students and 40% for graduate students.

“With a 65% fee increase and budget cuts last year, 175,000

students did not enroll in community college,” Coast Community

College District spokeswoman Erin Cohn said Friday. “We must consider

how many we will lose with another 44% increase.”

Full-time community college students already faced a 65% fee

increase last year, Cohn said. Under the new plan, students who

already have a bachelor’s degree will pay $50 a unit.

The state budget proposal also includes an $880 million cut to

Medi-Cal, $27 billion in cuts from labor and workforce development

and $21 billion in cuts to environmental protection programs.

California’s kindergarten through high school students are the

only ones who have come out mostly unscathed.

Under the governor’s plan, California schools would receive close

to $2 billion more in funding in the 2004-05 fiscal year than present

levels, and per student spending is slated to rise by $216.

That is about $2 billion less, however, than they are promised by

Proposition 98, which guarantees an increase in school funding from

property taxes each year.

Under the budget plan, the money would be returned to schools over

time.

Leaders from all three Huntington Beach school districts described

Schwarzenegger’s budget as a fair deal in light of the state’s money

woes.

“Considering the depth of the state budget problem, it appears

[kindergarten through 12th grade] education came out in good stead,”

said Mary Lou Beckman, chief financial officer of the Ocean View

School District.

The budget also includes provisions to allow local districts more

discretion.

“One thing that school districts usually ask for is flexibility

and local control over money,” Beckman said.

“Everyone has to make sacrifices -- counties, cities,”

Schwarzenegger said when he unveiled his budget to the public in a

televised speech.

But what Schwarzenegger considers a sacrifice is a staggering loss

to the city.

“It’s really tough,” Mayor Cathy Green said. “We’ve had to cut

back so much already. At some point, there’s going to be nothing else

to cut. It’s worrisome.”

The governor’s budget requires two-thirds approval by both houses

of the state Legislature before it is approved.