COUNCIL OKS $76.2 MILLION BUDGET : FUNDING ADDED FOR SENIOR CENTER, REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, PARK PROJECT.Byline: Sherry sherry [from Jérez], naturally dry fortified wine, pale amber to brown in tint. The term sherry originally referred to wines made from grapes grown in the region of Jérez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain; today it may refer to any of the Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer The City Council has adopted a $76.2 million budget that includes $500,000 for a downtown Newhall redevelopment agency and additional funds for the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. Senior Center and a new park in East Newhall. The budget grew by $650,000 Tuesday night after the council added $500,000 for the redevelopment agency, $50,000 for the senior center and $100,000 for Creekview Park, scheduled to open this fall. Most of the money came from the estimated $2.2 million General Fund balance, the actual amount of which will be determined by auditors in six months. City officials borrowed the $500,000 from the General Fund balance to jump-start the redevelopment agency until it begins selling bonds and collecting tax increments. Plans to renovate downtown Newhall have been delayed by legal challenges from the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency. ``I'm hoping to get increments next summer but they'll be small,'' City Manager George Caravalho told the council. He said the redevelopment agency could repay the loan in five to 10 years. The council also agreed to give $50,000 - for one year only - to the financially ailing senior center, which already receives about $150,000 annually from the city. Without the $50,000 the senior center would have been forced to lay off two support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services staff members, leaving 2,000 elderly residents without adequate care, executive director Brad Berens said. The center already has laid off six staffers and closed six nutrition sites earlier this year because of federal budget cuts. ``In the aftermath of dramatic cutbacks in the Older Americans Act funding this temporary reprieve reprieve (rĭprēv`): in law, see pardon. from the city allows us to look for alternatives and attend to a couple thousand clients by hanging onto two caseworkers,'' Berens said. But he cautioned that the money is only a temporary stop-gap measure. ``We need to find a long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. solution that can be handled at the local level,'' he said, urging middle-age residents to finance senior citizens' care. ``Baby boomers See generation X. are going to have to start rising to the occasion. The baby boomers are going to have to start sending their charitable contributions charitable contribution n. in taxation, a contribution to an organization which is officially created for charitable, religious, educational, scientific, artistic, literary, or other good works. to service-oriented programs like ours.'' The council also agreed to spend $100,000 on Creekview Park in East Newhall to build a soccer field and basketball court. The city already budgeted $171,000 for the project, which will feature restrooms, trails and athletic fields. |
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