Mayor Michael Davitt wrote a letter to the editor claiming that Measure LCF funds are not being used to balance next year’s budget.
Yet, how else could the budget be balanced when next year’s general fund expenditures will be $2.5 million higher than this year’s actuals, whereas revenues without Measure LCF will only be $200,000 higher? Clearly, Measure LCF’s $1.6 million is being used to fill the gap between expenditures and revenues.
The ballot language for Measure LCF promised “line-item budget disclosures.” But the recently adopted budget is silent as to what Measure LCF funds are being spent on. The budget simply dumps Measure LC’s $1.6 million into the general fund, with no tracking of Measure LCF expenditures.
Despite the lack of tracking, the mayor claims that Measure LCF will be paying for several projects in next year’s budget. The projects he identifies, however, total only $304,000, far less than Measure LCF’s $1.6 million. These projects are $25,000 for community emergency preparedness, $7,000 for two Flock cameras, $10,000 for alarm rebates, $50,000 for storm drain repairs, $50,000 for pavement repairs, and $162,000 for engineering services. Rather underwhelming.
The mayor also claims that Measure LCF is paying for a 9% increase in the public safety budget. In fact, next year’s public safety budget is only 2.7% higher than this year’s budget. How did the mayor get 9%? By comparing next year’s budget not to this year’s budget, but to this year’s actuals, which were low because the city spent only 94% of its public safety budget. Through this misleading comparison, the mayor added six percentage points. The reality is that next year’s public safety budget is flat when adjusted for inflation. No additional sheriff patrols, no faster 911 response times.
At a budget workshop in May, a councilmember asked what Measure LCF is being spent on. Staff’s answer: “This budget doesn’t actually include any of the Measure LCF that passed.”
We residents were grifted into voting for Measure LCF, and now we’re being gaslighted about how Measure LCF is being spent.
David Haxton
La Cañada Flintridge
First published in the June 27 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
