La Mirada~The La Mirada City Council took the first major steps into adopting a new fiscal budget for next year on Tuesday night.

La Mirada and many other area municipalities will be going into the new budget year without the luxury of having income generated from "economic engines" such as community redevelopment agencies.

City officials said that La Mirada's worst financial challenge stems from the State of California actions that have "impacted the City's budget far more than the Great Recession."

"The State's elimination of redevelopment agencies will have far-reaching negative impacts. The State's process for dissolving redevelopment was poorly conceived and executed, and has caused financial chaos and confusion for local governments throughout California," said Kevin Prelgovisk, Assistant City Manager.

But, overall, La Mirada's financial position is better than most area cities, however, without changes to the current law, La Mirada's General Fund could lose nearly $58 million, almost twice the annual operating budget.

"Financial blows of this magnitude will have severe negative impacts on La Mirada's ability to provide services and make critical infrastructure repairs," Prelgovisk said.

Councilman Steve Jones was blunt in his assessment of the new budget challenges from Sacramento.

"The state of California is acting like your addicted uncle who has the keys to your house," Jones quipped.