The decline in the housing market and the delayed construction of a new community pool have led to almost $400,000 being trimmed from the Conejo Recreation and Park District budget for the new fiscal year, officials said.

The revised budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which began Tuesday, reflects a drop in the predicted growth of property tax revenue and the loss of some predicted revenue from the community pool under construction at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

However, the overall annual budget is still higher than in the previous year, rising from $17.3 million in 2007-08 to $17.5 million for 2008-09.

"Overall, expenditures remain the same and the level of service remains the same," said Tom Hare, administrator of the district's Parks and Planning Division.

Earlier, officials had expected that the district's revenue from property taxes would grow by 5 percent in the new year compared to the previous year, but that estimate has been revised to 3 percent, a loss of $232,000.

Also, officials predict lost revenues of about $132,000 as a result of the delayed opening of the community pool, which they had expected to open in the spring of this year but now is set to open in spring 2009.

The revenue shortfall will mean that "a bunch of little things" won't get done, said Hare, such as having extra money to hire a contract service worker when additional help might be needed. However, there will be no adverse impact on large projects such as improvements under way at Conejo Creek Park South, he said.

Hare said the additional revenues this year of just under $200,000 are earmarked for post-employment benefits, such as healthcare coverage for retired employees, the cost of which has risen substantially this year, and for increased spending in connection with the opening of the new pool.

One of the capital projects of the last fiscal year is proving highly successful, Hare added. In March, work was completed on a $235,000 playground renovation at Conejo Creek Park North in Thousand Oaks. Improvements included the installation of NEOS, a new product that brings electronic gaming to the outdoor play space. The design includes four columns with interactive sound and buttons. The buttons light up in random sequence.

"It's going really well and is being used a lot," said Hare, adding that there have been no equipment failures or vandalism of the state-of-the-art-game. "It's proving very popular."