Irvine leaders are pushing forward with a series of audits amid questions over the city’s growing budget deficit after council members asked for a better understanding of how the spending gap happened.
Officials are also considering slashing library services and introducing new fees like parking rates.
While city staff have assured council members they’re already taking steps to fix the city’s budget issues, they did warn them that without significant changes the city could be facing an annual deficit of over $47 million by the end of the decade.
“We want to balance things structurally in the long term,” said Finance Director Dahle Bulosan at the council’s Tuesday meeting. “We need to make a course correction.”
[Read: Irvine Officials Deadlock on How to Close Multimillion Dollar Budget Deficits]
The growing budget problems are also leading to a reduction in several long-term plans for the city, including their plans for a new library system.
City Manager Sean Crumby said at Tuesday’s council meeting that while the city has enough to continue maintaining its three existing libraries, major upgrades to the facilities or new branches are off the table for now.
“There isn’t a lot of funds leftover to accommodate expansion, both capital and operation wise for the system,” Crumby said.
Despite the rising concerns over the city’s financial future, multiple city council members were explicit that one measure that would remain off the table was laying off staff or slashing benefits or salaries for city employees.
“We don’t lay off people,” Mayor Larry Agran said at the meeting. “We plan for our workforce so they don’t come to work in fear of being laid off.
Increasing city salaries and a growth in the city’s workforce have been one of the big drivers behind the city’s growing deficit, with staff costs up 50% in the past five years.
Staff have already made several cuts to the budget according to Bulosan, including instituting a hiring freeze and delays on replacing city cars that should save over $6 million.
Bulosan also brought up the possibility of increasing user fees throughout the city, noting the city needs to drop its subsidy for residents and visitors that cover part of their costs for various services.
“We want to make sure the cost of providing the services are recovered by those who use it,” Bulosan said.
Councilman Mike Carroll also pitched the idea of charging for parking at the city’s Great Park, saying that people who come from out of town should be charged while residents aren’t.
City staff noted they’re currently conducting a parking study to look at charging for parking in several locations throughout the city.
“The out of town sports teams and the non Irvine majority sports clubs need to pay substantially larger fees,” Carroll said. “We don’t charge nearly enough for that park.”
Councilman James Mai pitched having city staff come back with a host of budget details in the next 60 days, including analyses of the city’s budget projections and clear dollar amounts attached to drivers of the city’s deficit.
“I just know we can do better,” Mai said.
Agran agreed with the request for more details but called Mai’s proposal “micromanaging.”
Instead, Agrain said council members should be led by city staff to their budget decision and that he should privately speak with staff about the information he wants to review.
Ultimately, city council members voted 5-2 to have staff come back with the information in 90 days, with Agran and Councilwoman Melinda Liu voting against the proposal.
“We’re kind of led in the budgeting by our city manager, and our staff, our finance staff, they take the lead, and we respond to that,” Agran said. “The idea we can give all kinds of directives here, as kind of a substitute for what you’re already doing, just seems to me to be misplaced.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.