AGOURA BUDGET PLAN WOULD CUT CITY COSTS WHILE ADDING STAFF; ENGINEER, INSPECTOR POSTS WOULD BE CREATED.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer The cost of running the city will go down in 1997-98 under the proposed budget, but staffing will probably expand as the growing community adds a permanent engineer and building inspector The following articles relate to the topic of building inspector:
``We've contracted those positions out from the beginning,'' City Manager Dave Adams said. ``It's now reached the point where it is more economically viable to fill those positions.'' The Agoura Hills City Council, which this past week reviewed the proposed $6.15 million budget, is expected to approve a final draft in June that will include the addition of employees and the first road resurfacing work in two years. Adams estimated that switching from contract workers to city employees will save the city about $125,000 a year. The savings will be lower in the first year because of start-up costs such as new city vehicles and other new employee costs, he said. ``We'll still come out ahead from what we were paying for those services,'' Adams said. Also proposed in the preliminary budget are an office assistant position and a teen coordinator. The office assistant would be posted at the front desk to help visitors. The teen coordinator position would be partly funded with money from Westlake Village, which is working with Agoura Hills to provide youth programs. A total of $400,000 in road resurfacing work is also included in the 1997-98 preliminary budget. Cost savings for the year resulted from luck and the resolution of lawsuits that had cost the city thousands of dollars for years. The cost of law enforcement services, provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. , will go down slightly in the upcoming fiscal year because of special funds for police services and shared expenses with neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. cities. But the services themselves will increase slightly, said Capt. Bill McSweeney with the Lost Hills station. At the same time, the city expects to save $85,000 in attorney fees now that issues surrounding the utility tax and other lawsuits have been resolved. ``Comparing this budget to previous years, just about every department is at the same cost or lower except for about four,'' Councilman Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Weber said. ``This is a great, great report card for the city.'' About one-third of the city's projected $6 million in revenue comes from sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. , and another 21.6 percent comes from property tax. Those sources generally remain constant, while revenue from the Transient Occupancy Tax Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is levied for the privilege of occupying a room or rooms or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging (defined below) for a period of 30 days or less. is expected to increase by $65,000 because of a tax increase approved by the council earlier this year. Despite a roomier budget that allows the city to expand services in some areas, it still does not allow the council to go forward on a full list of road improvements expected to cost $25 million. The council will decide in June whether to ask city voters again to consider a utility tax. Council members have argued that neighboring cities have similar taxes and have been able to maintain infrastructure and begin projects such as libraries. ``We have a huge list of unmet un·met adj. Not satisfied or fulfilled: unmet demands. needs,'' Mayor Fran Pavley Fran Pavley is a Democratic politician and previously served as a California Assemblywoman and as the first mayor of the Southern California community of Agoura Hills. She served as a Mayor and Councilmember for four terms. said. ``We can't attract the upscale developers we would like to if we don't have the amenities they want.'' Projects on the city's wish list include interchange An interchange is a location where two things meet, usually perform some kind of exchange, and possibly go on their ways again. It is most commonly used in four contexts:
adobe Handmade sun-dried bricks formed from a mixture of heavy clay and straw found in arid regions. Road and general roadwork road·work n. 1. Sports Outdoor long-distance running as a form of physical exercise or conditioning. 2. The activity of taking a band, typically a rock band, on extended tours. 3. Highway construction. . The council also has made it a goal to build a larger library, since the current one is only 7,500 square feet and has limited parking. Council members had intended to use utility tax money for some of the projects, but voters eliminated it in a June 1996 election by a 1,692-1,492 tally. The city needed 50 percent of the voters plus one vote to keep the tax. The city still has about $1.1 million in utility tax money, which was placed in a separate fund after the tax came into question. The council passed the tax in June 1994 - 4 percent for residents and 3.5 percent for businesses - to cover a budget shortfall. In October 1995, the state Supreme Court reversed lower court rulings that allowed special taxes to be approved by an elected body without a popular vote. At that time, the city stopped spending the tax money but continued to collect it. In January, the council voted to refund TO REFUND. To pay back by the party who has received it, to the party who has paid it, money which ought not to have been paid. 2. On a deficiency of assets, executors and administrators cum testamento annexo, are entitled to have refunded to them legacies the utility tax money for the months from October 1995 to July 1996. But so far, only 791 households and 97 businesses have requested the refunds totaling $136,242. Residents and business owners have until July 15 to request a refund. The council in August will decide how to spend the remaining money. Council members have said they will put the money toward road repairs or the proposed library. |
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