Laguna Beach to consider revised budget for upcoming fiscal year, revisions to 2019-20 budget

The Laguna Beach City Council will consider adoption of the city’s revised budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which begins in July, and edits to its 2019-20 budget.

Tuesday’s discussion will focus on input from the council on proposed revisions and follow the council’s suggested changes at a budget workshop at its meeting on June 23. The discussion will also include community assistance grants, cultural arts grants and salaries for city staff.

The council will also adopt a Gann Limit, which curtails the amount of revenue that can be appropriated in a given fiscal year.

The revisions affect the second year of the approved two-year budget passed in 2019, and were made in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which the city projected in April would cause a $12-million loss in revenue and lead to significant cutbacks.

Items deferred for discussion at the April 7 meeting included the $500,000 reserve for the South Laguna Community Garden, the Urban Forest Management Plan, a fire inspector position and the Sewer Digester building.

In a June 16 letter by City Manager John Pietig to the council included in the staff report for last Tuesday’s discussion, Pietig wrote, “We do not yet know the full impact this pandemic will have on our city and its finances, and while we remain optimistic that Laguna Beach will recover, no one knows how deep the impending economic downturn will be or how long it will last.”

“We are now faced with making difficult decisions in an economic environment that we have never experienced before,” Pietig wrote. “We must be cautious when reducing the budget and impacting our programs and services.”

During the two-hour-long budget workshop on June 23, residents spoke in favor of preserving the reserve for the garden in south Laguna Beach while others urged the city to prioritize public safety and provide funding to hire a fire inspector and to unfreeze two police officer positions.

Tuesday’s meeting will begin at 5 p.m. and can be viewed on Cox cable channel 852 or livestreamed through the city’s website at lagunabeachcity.net/cityhall/citygov/cityclerk/mam.htm.

Residents are encouraged to send comments on agenda items to City Clerk Lisette Chel-Walker at [email protected]. All communications must be received by noon Tuesday.

Residents can also call in at (669) 900-9128 to listen to the meeting and comment during designated periods. While calling, dial 96713990617# and press *9 to comment on an item. Time for remarks may be limited.

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