SAMPLE FIVE-YEAR SPENDING PLAN
City of Laguna Beach·2026 Revenue Measures
This attachment provides a detailed view of the three measures summarized in the staff report. The Local Funding Measure (the business license tax or the one-cent sales tax) is modeled at approximately $8.0 million per year; the Hotel Tax Measure (transient occupancy tax) at approximately $3.0 million per year. The $8.0 million figure is a deliberately conservative planning estimate: the business license tax is projected to generate about $8.6 million per year, and the onecent sales tax about $7.8 million per year, and $8.0 million is used throughout, so the plan holds regardless of which measure the Council places before voters. Revenue figures assume a 2.5% annual increase from each measure’s first full year of collection. Because both are general taxes, the allocations below are statements of priority and remain subject to City Council approval of each annual budget.
LOCAL FUNDING MEASURE:
BUSINESS LICENSE TAX OR SALES TAX (~$8.0 MILLION / YEAR) Annual Allocation by Priority
Priority Share FY 26-27 FY 27-28 FY 28-29 FY 29-30 FY 30-31 5-Yr Total Fire
Stations &
Wildfire
Safety
40% $3,200,000 $3,280,000 $3,362,000 $3,446,000 $3,532,000 $16,820,000 Police &
Emergency
Services
20% $1,600,000 $1,640,000 $1,681,000 $1,723,000 $1,766,000 $8,410,000 Beaches,
Parks &
Visitor
Programs
15% $1,200,000 $1,230,000 $1,261,000 $1,292,000 $1,325,000 $6,308,000 Library &
Community
Facilities
10% $800,000 $820,000 $841,000 $862,000 $883,000 $4,206,000 Housing
for Seniors
&
Workforce
8% $640,000 $656,000 $672,000 $689,000 $706,000 $3,363,000 Reserves &
Savings 7% $560,000 $574,000 $588,000 $603,000 $618,000 $2,943,000 Total
Annual
Measure
100% $8,000,000 $8,200,000 $8,405,000 $8,615,000 $8,830,000 $42,050,000 What Each Priority Funds
• Fire Stations & Wildfire Safety (40%): replacement of three aging fire stations (Forest Avenue, Agate, and Top of the World), phased over multiple years; new and maintained fuelmodification (brush-clearing) zones citywide; and related wildfire-safety improvements.
Attachment 2
11 • Police & Emergency Services (20%): a modernized police facility, relocation of the police weapons range to a new indoor facility, a dedicated Emergency Operations Center at City Hall, and an advanced dispatch / real-time crime center. • Beaches, Parks & Visitor Programs (15%): beach and park maintenance, cleaning and trash removal, nuisance and noise enforcement, and a safety drone program to manage the impacts of roughly six million annual visitors, plus open-space acquisition and park development. • Library & Community Facilities (10%): expansion of the branch library and improvements to community facilities.
• Housing for Seniors & Workforce (8%): support for affordable and senior housing through partnerships, gap funding, and accessory-dwelling-unit incentives. This is an ongoing funding priority rather than a single capital project, and is not itemized in the capital schedule below. • Reserves & Savings (7%): disaster-reserve set-asides and savings to keep the plan sustainable and the City prepared for emergencies; held as a recurring set-aside rather than an itemized project.
Illustrative Capital Schedule (Major One-Time Projects) The priority shares above describe how much funding is directed to each priority each year. The major facilities within those priorities would be designed and built over a multi-year period, not all at once.
The schedule below shows the major one-time projects, their target construction year, and their estimated cost in year-of-construction dollars.
Project Priority Target
Year
Est. Cost
Fire Station #1 — Forest Avenue Fire Stations &
Wildfire Safety 2028 $16,640,000
Fire Station #2 — Agate Fire Stations &
Wildfire Safety 2029 $10,816,000
Fire Station #3 — Top of the
World
Fire Stations &
Wildfire Safety 2030 $11,248,640
Fuel-Modification Zones (new) Fire Stations &
Wildfire Safety 2028 $1,040,000
Advanced Dispatch / Real-Time
Crime Center
Police & Emergency
Services 2029 $7,571,200
Emergency Operations Center
(City Hall)
Police & Emergency
Services 2028 $4,160,000
Updated Police Facility Police & Emergency
Services 2030 $16,872,960
Relocate Police Weapons Range
(indoor)
Police & Emergency
Services 2032 $4,866,612
Catalina Lots Purchase / Park
Development
Beaches, Parks &
Visitor Programs 2027 $4,500,000
Open-Space Acquisition (future) Beaches, Parks &
Visitor Programs 2027 $7,000,000
Branch Library Expansion (added
story)
Library & Community
Facilities 2030 $11,248,640
Total — Local Funding
Measure capital program $95,964,052
12 Costs are shown in year-of-construction dollars, assuming approximately 4% annual construction inflation from a 2027 base; the equivalent total in today’s dollars is about $88.95 million. Small visitor-impact start-up costs (e.g., drone program and noise-enforcement equipment) are funded under the Hotel Tax Measure and are not shown here. Target years and scope are illustrative and would be confirmed each year through the City’s capital budgeting process.
Fiscal Discipline — $1 Million in Annual Cost Reductions Alongside the new revenue, the City commits to reducing its own operating costs by approximately $1 million each year (about 1% of the operating budget) and redirecting those savings to core services.
This continues the cost discipline already underway, including the elimination of eight full-time positions and reductions in contracts and capital outlay to balance the FY 2026-27 budget.
HOTEL TAX MEASURE — TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (~$3.0 MILLION / YEAR) An increase in the transient occupancy tax from 12% to 14% — paid by hotel and short-term lodging guests rather than residents — would generate about $3.0 million per year. With the existing 2% Tourism Marketing District assessment, the combined lodging rate would move from 14% to 16%, in line with other coastal destinations and still paid by guests, not residents.
Annual Allocation by Priority
Priority Share FY 26-27 FY 27-28 FY 28-29 FY 29-30 FY 30-31 5-Yr Total Wildfire
Prevention
& Brush
Clearing
35% $1,050,000 $1,076,000 $1,103,000 $1,131,000 $1,159,000 $5,519,000 VisitorImpact
Programs
30% $900,000 $923,000 $946,000 $969,000 $993,000 $4,731,000 Police,
Fire &
Marine
Safety
20% $600,000 $615,000 $630,000 $646,000 $662,000 $3,153,000 Reserves
& Savings 15% $450,000 $461,000 $473,000 $485,000 $497,000 $2,366,000 Total
Annual
Measure
100% $3,000,000 $3,075,000 $3,152,000 $3,231,000 $3,311,000 $15,769,000 What It Funds
The plan focuses on ongoing priorities: year-round wildfire prevention and brush clearing; beach cleaning, trash removal, and nuisance enforcement to address day-visitor impacts; police, fire, and marine-safety services; dispatched medical transport to help bridge care as Mission Hospital changes its services; and reserves and savings.
THE TWO MEASURES SIDE BY SIDE
The two measures differ in scale, and a spending plan has been prepared for each. The table below shows both measures together across the City’s priorities. The Local Funding Measure allocates approximately $8.0 million per year; the Hotel Tax Measure approximately $3.0 million per year. 13 Priority Local Funding
Measure — $8.0M/yr
Hotel Tax Measure —
$3.0M/yr
Fire Stations & Wildfire Safety $3,200,000 $1,050,000
Police & Emergency Services $1,600,000 $600,000
Beaches, Parks & Visitor Programs $1,200,000 $900,000
Library & Community Facilities $800,000 –
Housing for Seniors & Workforce $640,000 –
Reserves & Savings $560,000 $450,000
Total Each Year $8,000,000 $3,000,000
Hotel Tax Measure amounts reflect its allocation, mapped to the corresponding priorities. A dash indicates a priority not included in that measure.
NOTES:
● Revenue. Both measures assume 2.5% annual growth from the first full year of collection.
Actual timing follows each measure’s effective date. Dollar figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
● Capital is funded over time, not all at once. The priority shares are annual statements of priority. The major facilities in the Illustrative Capital Schedule are phased across several years and together exceed any single year’s revenue; they would be delivered over time from the ongoing revenue stream and, where appropriate, through financing tools authorized separately by the City Council.
● Not a bond measure. These are general tax measures, not bond measures. A yes vote authorizes the tax described in the ballot question; it does not, by itself, authorize the City to issue bonds or incur debt.
● Cost vs. revenue timing. Project costs in the capital schedule assume roughly 4% annual construction inflation, while revenue is projected to grow about 2.5% per year. Because costs are expected to rise faster than revenue, project timing and scope will be confirmed each year through the City’s capital budgeting process.
● Accountability. Every dollar stays in Laguna Beach, supported by independent annual audits and a public yearly spending report.
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