Cities bash budget plan

GLENDALE — Local officials reacted with scathing criticism Tuesday to a budget deal between the governor and leading lawmakers for solving California’s $26-billion deficit.

Although specifics of the plan, which includes no taxes or fee increases, were scarce Tuesday, it is expected to include deep cuts to public services, heavy borrowing from city governments and reductions in school spending.

Officials in Glendale and Burbank expect to lose millions of dollars just weeks after passing their own contracted budgets.

Glendale will likely lose $11 million for redevelopment projects through the state’s plan to borrow from city agencies, City Manager Jim Starbird said.

But the Glendale Redevelopment Agency has only $5 million on-hand, meaning it will need to pay the rest from its reserve if legislators approve the budget adjustments, Starbird said.

Other cuts to Glendale are not yet certain, but the city will likely lose its ability to pay for developments ranging from road repairs to a new central library branch, he said.

“It is the most irresponsible thing I’ve seen, and I’ve been in this business for 37 years,” Starbird said of the budget plan.

Burbank will likely lose about $1.7 million in redevelopment funds, along with an estimated $3.2 million in property tax revenues that are expected to be siphoned away to Sacramento, Deputy City Manager Justin Hess said.

The funding hits could put a hold on projects that would have otherwise created jobs, Hess said.

“With the hurting economy, we want to be out there doing projects and stimulating job growth, revitalizing the community,” Hess said. “And them taking money away from redevelopment seems counteractive.”

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took the most aggressive stand, passing a motion Tuesday to file lawsuits against the state if lawmakers approve the plan, which would have similar impacts to redevelopment funding.

In their motion, supervisors called the state’s proposal “fiscally reckless and morally bankrupt.”

Cuts to CalWorks, the state’s Healthy Families program and In-Home Support Services will have substantial impacts on residents statewide, officials said.