Politics & Government

Council Braces for Budget Showdown

The Mission Viejo City Council will decide two years of city spending in its next meeting. The debate on how it should be spent is already heating up.

Is Mission Viejo's budget for the next two years an example of thrift and foresight, or is it "incomplete and deceptive," as one council member described it?

This topic will join many other hot-buttons June 15 when the City Council decides how to spend millions in city revenues over the next two years. That debate got a head start Monday evening.

Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht criticized the 258-page budget as presented by City Manager Dennis Wilberg, saying it is "incomplete and deceptive."

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"All I saw on this was a bucket of money with objectives and programs," she said. "I didn’t see the cost for a dog park, I didn’t see the costs for a tennis center. There wasn’t anything regarding our unfunded pensions, our health care."

The city manager countered: "Simply saying that the budget is incomplete and deceptive doesn’t get us anywhere."

Find out what's happening in Mission Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wilberg said the dog park and tennis center weren't on this budget because they were approved for past budgets. As large capital improvement projects, their costs will be split over several years of budgets, he said.

The city manager said that by fiscal year 2013, Mission Viejo will have its operational costs cut by $1.8 million compared to fiscal year 2010-11. He said the city's reserve funds will increase slightly, and will remain above 50 percent of the city's operational budget. And he said the city's core services will be maintained.

Schlicht said the claim about the city's robust reserve funds is misleading.

“That is not money in the savings account," she said. "And that’s $10 million less than a few years ago.”

Councilman Frank Ury said the city's $9 million budget shortfall this year comes as a result of pension liabilities--liabilities approved by a different council a decade ago.

“We didn’t torch, Councilwoman Schlicht, $10 million in operational savings," he said. "Tell me where we spent that money.”

Schlicht said that after a weekend of "pouring over" the budget, she has eight pages of questions for city staff.

Ury said he would look forward to even 100 pages of questions June 15 if enough caffeine is provided.


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