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About Town - Hermosa Beach
Art for Ed
An artist's showing on the evening of Friday, June 2 at the Martinique restaurant, 934 Hermosa Ave., will benefit the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation, which provides funding for programs in the city's public schools.
The showing by painter Suzanne Jenne begins with no-host cocktails and wine tasting at 6 p.m., followed by a three-course French Caribbean dinner.
The South Bay resident of 23 years uses acrylics and oils in a "rich, expressionistic blend of color and shape that captures still life and scenes from nature," according to organizers of the event. She creates her work during trips around the world and in the South Bay.
Cost of the Martinique dinner is $35 per person. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling 376-9300.
Money talk
The city council will meet at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, June 1 for a workshop discussing the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The preliminary budget, a balanced one calling for $15.2 million in spending, would use the largest chunk of revenue, 37 percent, for public safety such as police and fire services. The next largest spending category would be 35 percent for capital improvements such as street and sewer repairs and an overhaul of Valley Park.
City officials estimate that revenues in the unrestricted general fund will reach $10.5 million. That marks a 5 percent increase over the current budget, excluding last year's $1 million donation by longtime resident David T. Schumacher for the city's renovation of the pier head.
Some 31 percent of the general fund is made up of property taxes, with 17 percent coming from sales taxes and 12 percent from the utility users tax. A ballot measure to repeal the 6 percent utility users tax was overwhelmingly rejected by Hermosa voters in November.
Property tax revenue is expected to increase by 5 percent in the coming fiscal year, according to a report by City Manager Steve Burrell. Sales tax revenue has shot up 24 percent in the past two years and 46 percent over the past five years. ER