ESCONDIDO -- The sales tax boost city officials were expecting from a new "super luxury" Lexus dealership will be coming at least eight months later than expected.

Construction of the dealership began just west of Interstate 15 in fall 2007, and the facility had been slated to open this month. But city and dealership officials said this week that work won't be finished until at least July and possibly next fall.

The delay has been one of many factors responsible for ballooning the city's projected budget deficit to more than $7 million for the fiscal year that ends in June.

City budget officials had projected about $100,000 in sales tax from the new dealership when the budget was adopted last June, but budget director Gil Rojas said they've since had to adjust that down to zero.

The $7 million shortfall has forced city officials to make significant cuts to libraries, firefighting, police and other services.

Councilman Dick Daniels said the delay is disappointing because the city treasury and the city's auto row could both use the kind of jolt that the Lexus dealership is expected to provide.

Daniels said having a dealership with such upscale amenities will encourage luxury car shoppers from across the county to include Escondido in their search for the right vehicle. He said it will also reinforce the idea that Escondido is the premier place to shop for a car.

The dealership, which is on Ninth Avenue, is expected to generate about $240,000 per year in sales tax for the city when it is complete. That equates to $24 million in total revenue, or roughly 350 sales averaging $70,000 per sale.

It will feature water shows, an upscale restaurant, piano music and a gigantic outdoor media screen displaying colorful landscapes and paintings. Similar dealerships have opened recently in Orange County and south Florida, but not in the San Diego area.

Building such a dealership in Escondido was the idea of Judy Jones-Cone, who owns Lexus Carlsbad and the new dealership. In a "vision statement" for the dealership, Cone describes a different approach to selling cars.

"It is our number one goal to engage the emotions of our guests," wrote Cone. "We will entertain our guests with multiple uses of sensory stimulation and motion."

Joe Russo, the city's assistant building director, said the dealership would not open until July at the earliest. He said work was nearing completion on the first phase of construction, which includes a parking garage and storage facility. But work has not yet begun on the second phase, which will include the showroom, restaurant and other features, he said.

Dale Weston, advertising director for Lexus Carlsbad, said Tuesday that the dealership would probably not open until fall. But Weston said there was no chance Lexus would abandon the project or delay the second phase of construction until the economy and auto sales recover.

"We're still going forward," said Weston. "When it opens, this thing will be beautiful."

Weston said he was not sure what had caused the delays, suggesting that a December 2008 opening may have been too optimistic to begin with. He said there have been no significant design changes since the city approved the project.

The 1,296-square-foot media screen, which will be roughly the size of a movie theater screen, was approved last spring by the City Council despite concerns that its illuminated images might distract drivers.

The state Department of Transportation subsequently negotiated a deal with Lexus that prohibits video streaming and having the images change too rapidly, department spokesman Hayden Manning said Tuesday.

The city approval prohibits advertising on the screen. Lexus officials have said they plan to display "soothing" images, and city officials said they plan to create a committee to select the images that get used.

Councilman Sam Abed said the eight extra months that the dealership would have been open would probably have yielded slow sales figures because of the economic downturn.

On the other hand, he said Lexus was a solid company poised to rebound because it was in the luxury market, which has been less affected than other kinds of auto sales.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.