Revenue report is a mixed bag

CITY HALL — A special budget meeting on Tuesday revealed that many of the city’s revenue-generating enterprises have little to offer in the way of financial assistance as the City Council prepares to close a projected $9.4-million budget gap for the next fiscal year.

Many of the city’s enterprises, which generate revenue through services such as trash pickup and electricity, are either losing money or bracing for draw-downs on their fund reserves to cope with rising operational costs, according to a string of reports presented to the council.

The Glendale Fire Department’s firefighter/paramedic program, which staffs five ambulances with an around-the-clock 24-member team, will require an extra $670,000 on top of an annual $1.45-million subsidy from the city — due in large part to rising operational costs and the gap created by the inability to recoup all service costs from delinquent patients, Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said.

The Civic Auditorium will claim a nearly $401,000 loss this fiscal year, said George Chapjian, director of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.

“We need to get something going there,” Councilman Ara Najarian said.

Its performance was due in large part to a lack of marketing personnel who “can really pound the pavement and really sell the auditorium,” Chapjian said.

The deficit had several on the City Council calling for a report on how to address the financial viability of the venue.

And while the Glendale Sports Complex remains in the black, the county funding source keeping it there is expected to dry up in coming years, Chapjian said.

The sales-tax-funded county account won’t be gone until 2019, but he said the city should consider charging nominal field rates as soon as 2009 to prepare for the lost revenue.

“If we don’t do that, it will significantly impact the recreation enterprise fund,” Chapjian told the council.

Even profitable enterprises, like the Public Works sewer and refuse funds, are projected to see sizable dents in their budget reserves as costs for fuel and materials continue to climb, city officials said.

The sewer fund reserve over the next two years is projected to drop roughly $10 million; the transit reserve by about $500,000; and the parking fund reserve by $700,000, according to a city report.

“We’re running lean,” Public Works Director Steve Zurn said.