HUNTINGTON BEACH : Hearing Tonight on City Budget Proposal

A public hearing on the 1994-95 proposed budget will be held at tonight’s City Council meeting. The council will consider adding a library card fee for non-residents and increasing parking fines to raise additional revenue.

The meeting, postponed a day because of Labor Day, begins at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 2000 Main St.

The library card fee would cost non-residents $20 a year to check out materials only and would raise about $200,000 in revenue for 1994-95.

Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg is recommending that all parking citations--except disabled parking violations--be hiked by $10. The proposed increase could raise about $390,000 in new revenue. Parking fines for street sweeping, parking meter and red curb parking violations are also proposed.

The total city budget proposed is $190.4 million, which includes all funds for 1994-95. Part of that total budget includes a proposed general-fund budget of $94.23 million, a reduction of nearly $2.5 million over the current 1993-94 budget.

To balance the budget, a total of 28 full-time positions and 29 part-time positions are expected to be slashed and cutbacks are probable in all city departments.

Of the full-time positions planned to be cut, three are police management positions and one is a police secretary position, which will not be filled after retirements. A total of seven positions, including six firefighters, are also scheduled to be eliminated from the Fire Department’s budget.

A second public hearing on the budget is scheduled Sept. 19. The council could adopt a new budget at that second public hearing, but they have until Sept. 30.