The approved state budget has left the already strained City of San Fernando facing revenue losses of approximately $2.9 million, directly impacting the City’s General Fund and Redevelopment Agency’s revitalization efforts in six project areas. The San Fernando City Council will be forced to revise its $41 million budget, approved July 20, which already struggled to eliminate a $3.2 million deficit through a series of efficiency cuts, hiring freezes and the lay-offs of 21 part-time staff. The city’s General Fund, which is nearly half of the city’s budget, relies largely on sales and property tax revenues, which have taken a significant hit from the rise in home foreclosures, a general decline in property values, and the closure and downsizing of two local auto dealerships. Through Proposition 1A the State will be taking approximately 8 percent or nearly $350,000 from the city’s General Fund, according to Veres. The city’s Redevelopment Agency will also lose nearly $2.1 million this fiscal year and $500,000 next fiscal year through the State’s supplemental Education Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF), which will slow the City’s revitalization efforts in its six redevelopment project areas. -Andrea Alegria
