City to draw on transit funding

Laguna Beach will dig deep to come up with the funds to operate the local transit system and buy three new trolleys in the next fiscal year.

The City Council authorized City Manager Ken Frank on Tuesday to file an application with the Orange County Transportation Authority for $1.9 million — almost $810,000 more than the authority estimates the city is due.

The difference between the city’s request and the authority’s estimate of Laguna’s share of the Local Transportation Fund will come from unused authority funds, drastically reducing the balance.

“This could have been on the consent calendar, but it is a lot of money and I wanted to be sure the council understands the consequences,” Frank said. “We will be drawing down our reserve of unallocated apportionments from previous years.

“After the $807,382 draw, the unallocated balance will be $226,508.”

Once the unallocated funds are gone or are insufficient, the city will have to make up any difference between the authority’s annual apportionment and the funds deemed necessary to run the Laguna’s transit system, probably from the parking fund, Frank said.

Since the 1990s, the city has balanced its budget with annual $700,000 infusions into the general fund from the parking fund.

“We can’t keep doing that if we want a Village Entrance project,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider said. “The parking fund should be used for parking.”

Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee veteran Carolyn Wood said perhaps the council should reconsider the trolley purchases, but the proposed application passed unanimously.

Purchase of two new trolleys had been already been approved when the council recently endorsed the idea of buying a third trolley to improve service on the north and south summer routes, as part of the local short-range transit plan

The city manager also was empowered to file application amendments that might become necessary due to budget adjustments authorized by the council.