By Brooklynn Wong
After some years of being very fiscally conservative, the city of La Palma is now faced with somewhat of a pleasant conundrum—they have a surplus, and how ought it to be spent?
At last week’s City Council meeting, Administrative Services Director Sea Shelton provided the Mid-Year Operating Report for Fiscal Year 2018-19.
The city is overall in good standing. In past years, any surplus that existed, City Council opted to hold on to and not use, due to uncertainties.
But now, Council expressed, the city has gotten its financial feet under it and is in a position to spend some money.
Though the city’s official Budget Workshop will take place in April, at this Council meeting, the members heard and received the Mid-Year Operating Report, and could begin making some tentative decisions on what to do with the assets it has now.
Several options were presented for what to do with the surplus in the general fund.
Median improvement is something the city has wanted to do for a long time, on three of the city’s main streets. All members present—Council member Michele Steggell was absent—expressed support for the medians being a priority. They discussed the fact that surrounding cities are already ahead of them in this process; since the medians cannot be watered, cities must be creative and intentional about improving their appearances.
Council member Gerard Goedhart emphasized the importance of making investments in the community with the surplus, by following along the path they have already been on, which has included painting at city sites and improving streets.
Mayor Goodman agreed, saying of the medians in particular, “we have a footing,” so there’s no reason to wait for some future deadline or go through more negotiations as to whether surplus funds should be allocated for this purpose.
The possibility of building a dog park in La Palma has also been on the city’s mind in recent months, with two “Bark in the Park” events being held, where a simulated dog park was set up at the civic center and residents could bring their dogs and give city staff feedback and suggestions.
City staff said a formal report on the status of the dog park will be presented in the near future, but Goedhart said “I think there’s clear support for this” as something the city could create with these funds.
Other considerations are a new electronic reader board at the community center, as the current one has frequent glitches; additional allocation to the Civic Center Replacement Fund—the city expressed a goal of building a new City Hall in the next 20 years; additional allocation to the Emergency Reserve Fund; establishment of a Pension Stabilization Fund; and additional allocation to an OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) Trust.
The Council was unanimous on the medians, but will continue to discuss the rest of the possibilities. The Budget Workshop will take place on Tuesday, April 23.
