OCEANSIDE -- North County Transit District Executive Director Karen King announced Thursday she was resigning, at a meeting where the financially struggling district unveiled a proposed $91.3 million budget featuring fare increases and bus-route cuts.

King said she would leave the district June 20 to become chief executive officer of Golden Empire Transit District in Bakersfield, one day after news broke that three other top transit district managers had been laid off because of mounting financial problems.

Peter Aadland, the district's longtime director of communications and business development, Deputy Executive Director Rick Howard and Director of Maintenance and Bus Operations Brian Graham were laid off last week.

King said her decision to resign was "absolutely not" coerced, and that the cost-cutting layoffs -- part of a larger plan to lay off 10 percent of the district's employees -- would leave the district better able to withstand the "outside pressures" of state funding cuts, rising gasoline prices and slumping sales tax revenues that make up 42 percent of the district's funding.

King's resignation leaves the transit district's executive staff with just two directors -- finance director Richard Hannasch and rail services director Tom Lichterman.

However, transit board Vice Chairman Dave Roberts, who is also a Solana Beach city councilman, said the district was already aggressively looking for King's replacement, and could have one hired before King leaves.

Roberts and a number of other transit board members praised King, who started her transit career as a bus driver 30 years ago and came to North County to "build the Sprinter" light rail line 10 years ago.

"She's been an outstanding leader for us," said Julianne Nygaard, who is also a Carlsbad councilwoman. "We've been very lucky to have her."

But transit board members were less pleased with the budget they released for public comment Thursday.

King said the 2008-09 spending plan could be approved by the board June 19, after a 20-day public comment period, and possible tweaking by the transit board, and the San Diego Association of Governments, which has final say over the district's fare rates.

Hannasch opened Thursday's budget presentation by again saying that the transit district was being hit hard by economic troubles that it had nothing to do with.

But Hannasch said that despite those troubles, the transit district was being hit with $19.1 million worth of increasing costs and funding cuts between the current year budget (ending June 30) and the newly proposed budget.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature have cut funding for transit, the economic downturn has stopped consumer spending and cut sales-tax revenue, and the district's gasoline costs have increased from $3 million five years ago to a projected $11 million in the proposed budget.

To deal with the financial problems, King and the district have come up with the layoff plan, a series of bus and train fare increases, and proposals to completely eliminate shuttle bus operations in Fallbrook, Ramona, Encinitas and Vista, and to cut hours on 45 bus routes.

On Monday the district held an emotional public hearing in Escondido, where roughly 200 frightened and angry bus riders said cutting the services could destroy their lives by cutting them off from family, jobs and medical care.

Some transit board members said they struggled with the proposed budget, saying they wanted to see individual costs for many of the bus routes that had been targeted for cutbacks.

Roberts said he didn't even think the district should release the proposed budget for public comment until the district could take a longer look at what it was eliminating -- although the board eventually voted to release the plan.

He said the district only needed to cut $661,000 worth of services, but was actually cutting nearly $4 million worth of items.

Hannasch said that was incorrect, that the district was proposing $2.4 million of paring, and that Schwarzenegger had actually proposed new state transit cuts Wednesday during his "May revise" budget proposal.

Transit board chairman and Escondido Councilman Ed Gallo said he was aghast at the idea of cutting a key bus route and all shuttle service in Ramona.

"How do you leave a whole entire community without service?" he said. "I don't understand that."

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 901-4067 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.