Agoura Hills officials keep services intact

Despite the weak economy and other strains on the Agoura Hills budget, no city services will be cut, officials said.

While many California municipalities have been forced to reduce services due to the economic downturn, Agoura Hills' officials said the city will be able to weather the drop in tax revenue, the slowdown in development, and the reduction in interest income on city investments.

In February, the City Council conducted a midyear budget review to identify potential adjustments to spending. A goal-setting workshop followed on March 11. Christy Pinuelas, the city's finance director, said in a report to the City Council that the city's revenues are down $580,000. Of that amount, the fees for building and safety and planning dropped $350,000.

The city anticipates a $130,000 decline in sales taxes this year, Pinuelas said.

Interest income is also down by $100,000 because of the declining rates of return on the city's invested reserves.

Agoura Hills officials will make up the shortfall by decreasing or shifting expenditures by $659,000 during the next fiscal year.

"It's important to note that the city has very healthy reserves that have been saved through careful fiscal management," Pinuelas said. The city's $8.8million reserve fund exceeds the council's guidelines (of 40 percent), she said.

Goals set

City officials again wrangled with the budget at a March goal workshop.

Though its reserves are healthy, the city is taking steps to reduce spending. City Manager Greg Ramirez said revenues are down $1 million from two years ago.

New development has come to a halt except for work on Agoura Village, a mixed use development, and the remodeling and expansion of Whizins Center.

Many programs were given the green light at the meeting, including the Reyes Adobe Bridge improvement, the affordable housing program and the new recreation center.

Park improvements include the installation of fibar wood chip filler used in playgrounds. Fibar will be installed at Chumash, Reyes Adobe, Old Agoura and Morrison parks, said Amy Brink, director of community services. Sumac Park will also get new playground equipment, park benches, picnic tables and drinking fountains.

Chumash Park's playing field will be leveled, and fencing that was destroyed by vandalism will be repaired at Old Agoura Park.

City Engineer Ramiro Adeva said the city will install a traffic signal backup along Thousand Oaks Boulevard to provide continuous operation of signals during power outages.

Estimates for three bus shelter remodels came in at $200,000 more than anticipated, prompting a call for newer, cheaper plans. The hand-welded ironwork and trellises pushed the cost of the shelters from $200,000 to $450,000.

"We have bus shelters," said Councilmember Dan Kuperberg, making the point that aesthetics have "never been a consideration for bus riders."

Councilmember Bill Koehler said the new shelters were supposed to be an upgrade and "not a necessity."

Fighting pollution

State mandates to keep pollution from entering local creeks continue to vex city officials.

New regulations require cities to keep local creeks free of pollution and if any pollutants enter the creeks the cities must pay for their removal.

Ramirez said the mandates could cost the city up to $900,000 a year. Ramirez recommended setting aside $600,000 in this year's budget for water quality projects.

"If you can't accomplish the standard then the challenge is (determining) what level of money you're going to commit if you don't know if it will work," Ramirez said. "As a city we're committed to begin to resolve those issues."

Catch basins will be installed to prevent trash and other urban runoff from entering the creeks. In April, Agoura Hills will conduct a demonstration on how to use ozonization, or filtering, to clean the water.