Laguna council ponders how to spend its extra $6 million, and helps a clinic with a crisis
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Even as it considered how to spend higher-than-expected revenues from the 2015-16 fiscal year, the Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday was hit with an urgent request for financial help.
The Laguna Beach Community Clinic said it might be forced to close for two or three weeks because of cracked sewer pipes and would need help covering the cost of the work and the revenue lost during a closure.
On the suggestion of Steve Dicterow, he and fellow council members unanimously agreed to provide a $125,000 grant to the medical clinic — which provides primary care on a sliding scale, based on ability to pay — and loan it $100,000 to be repaid, at no interest, in six months. City staff will return to the council with a formal agreement to consider on Feb. 28.
Clinic officials learned of the cracks in November after experiencing intermittent, and at times strong, odors, said Jorge Rubal, chief executive officer and medical director. Patients and staff complained of headaches and nausea, he said.
The city has reported more than $6 million in unexpected revenue from 2015-16, including $1.2 million in higher-than-estimated property taxes, $552,300 extra in investment earnings and $487,000 in increased sales tax revenue, the report said.
Revenue from parking meters and lots exceeded projections by a combined $659,000.
But the budget report cautioned that the city’s unfunded pension liability for 2015-16 increased by $7 million over the previous fiscal year, bringing Laguna’s total obligation to $49 million. In the last three years, Laguna has paid an additional $6.4 million toward the unfunded liability.
The council addressed the pension issue Tuesday but decided to discuss it in greater depth, as well as the city’s general long-term financial outlook, at 6 p.m. March 6 in council chambers, 505 Forest Ave.
Council members agreed to several of the staff’s recommendations for spending the extra revenue, including $1.5 million to handle tort claims; $250,000 each in grants to the Laguna Art Museum and Laguna Playhouse; and $500,000 to the city attorney for work involving lawsuits filed by two groups against the city.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued Laguna in 2015, alleging discrimination in the treatment of disabled homeless people. The BEACH (Backing Everyone’s Access to Coastal Housing) Vacation Coalition, a group of residents, sued the city in 2016, alleging that it violates land-use laws by prohibiting new short-term-rental permits in residential areas.
Council members also approved spending $300,000 for design and construction of a roundabout on Catalina Street at El Camino Del Mar and Los Robles, and $110,000 for removing damaged trees from winter storms.
Meanwhile, the council wanted to ensure the ongoing services provided by the Laguna Beach Community Clinic.
“They are an important asset to the community,” Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Boyd said. “Let’s do whatever we can for them.”
Councilman Robert Zur Schmiede asked Rubal if he considered other locations to serve patients during a closure.
“We are going to approach [Mission Hospital] to see if there is potential,” Rubal replied.
Rubal said in a news release in January that the nonprofit clinic, at 362 Third St., tallies more than 15,000 patient visits a year.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
