Rancho Santa Margarita OKs $15-Million Budget

The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council passed a budget of more than $15 million on Wednesday, with millions in reserves and a $158,827 surplus.

With 4-0 vote at City Hall, the City Council decision caps off the annual financial season with what Mayor Tony Beall called a “budget we can all be proud of.”

 “We scrutinize every line item in our entire multimillion-dollar budget and treat every penny as if this was our own family’s money,” Beall said.

“And it’s that type of careful scrutiny over the past many years that has allowed our city to weather the current economic storm."

General fund revenue is $15,533,754, an increase of about 5 percent over the 2010-11 budget, and general fund expenditures are $15,374,927, an increase of about 2 percent from the 2010-11 budget, according to the staff report.

Capital improvement expenditures budgeted for this year include the Santa Margarita Parkway bridge hinge repair, Antonio Parkway pavement rehabilitation and work on Chiquita Ridge.

The budget also provides $2,500 in funding for the 2/5 Battalion, the city’s adopted Marine battalion at Camp Pendleton, and $5,966 for a trauma intervention program, which provides counseling to victims of crimes, traffic accidents and fires. 

and officials expect to finish the next fiscal year with a surplus of $158,827.

“That is quite an accomplishment, I think, considering for the past three years, we’ve been staring down the barrel of budget deficits,” said Paul Boyer, city director of administrative services at the Wednesday night meeting.

The last time the city was in the black was the 2007-08 fiscal year, Boyer said. 

For 2011-12, city staff predicts Rancho Santa Margarita will take in $2.07 million in property tax, $3.76 million in sales tax, $1.29 million property tax in lieu of sales tax and $3.71 million property tax in lieu of vehicle tax.

The city has about $14.5 million in reserve, according to Boyer.

Other Business

• The city voted to have staff that would ban sex offenders in city parks.
• Officials honored two Orange County sheriff’s officers after in April. 
  On April 28, Deputy Joses Walehwa managed to maintain a conversation with a man who said he “wanted to be left alone so that he could jump off the bridge,” according to the city staff. Later,  Sgt. Angel Andrade from the Orange County sheriff's crisis negotiation team arrived on-scene and spoke with the man.  After more than two hours of conversation, the man came down from the railing. Beall said that while many workers helped save the man’s life, “the outstanding work of Deputy Walehwa and Sergeant Andrade … had the most positive and direct impact.”

Announcements

The RSM Relay for Life is June 11.

The American Legion Post 862 and many local Boy Scouts will provide a flag retirement series at City Hall, at dusk on Flag Day, June 14.