By Lookout Staff

A June 15, 2010 -- At a special meeting tonight, the City Council will vote on a budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year and hold its second session on the draft update to the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) of the City’s General Plan.

With some additional adjustments to the proposed budget presented to the council last month, City staff has further cut into the General Fund deficit for the upcoming fiscal year so that it has been reduced by more than $9 million from the originally projected $13.2 million. The difference will be made up mostly through $2.7 million from the City’s $8.2 million Economic Uncertainty fund and the use of a projected $900,000 surplus from this year.

“However, it is important to note that the five-year forecast projects growth rates in expenditures, particularly compensation costs, which will outstrip rates of revenue growth,” a City staff report states. “The City will need to continue to implement strategies that will correct this imbalance over the long term. Staff expects to bring additional proposals to (the) council later this year that if adopted will further reduce the ongoing shortfall.”

The staff report states one of those proposals could be to place a property transfer tax rate hike on the November ballot. Other possible proposals include increasing fees for animal control, planning, as well as community and cultural services; a City staff organizational restructuring and whatever might come out of the ongoing negotiations between City management and the municipal labor unions.

The topics of the LUCE session are community benefits, which developers seeking project agreements with the City are required to provide; strategies for housing and employment and the fiscal impact of future land uses. Additional LUCE sessions are scheduled for June 24, July 1 and July 6. The council is expected to finalize the document that will set the guidelines for the next two decades of development in Santa Monica during the last session. The LUCE has not been updated since 1984. The updating process began six years ago.