After six months of planning and crunching numbers, the city of Santa Clarita is ready to unveil its budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The city’s new spending plan for Santa Clarita City Council’s approval Tuesday totals $344.6 million, a $2.3 million over last year’s $342 million, which includes an $81.5 million capital improvement budget for things like parks, facilities and road improvements.
The agenda calls for a first reading Tuesday and then a formal adoption in two weeks.
Over the last several months, City Manager Ken Striplin has led several talks about the city’s strategy, which has evolved from a cautiously optimistic approach in February to more of a wait-and-see attitude in April, he explained during a previous discussion in April.
The city’s budget team started in February with global forecasts for growth rates ranging from 2.4% to 3.2%, and a “potential for modest growth,” but by April, “the economic landscape has changed,” he said.
“There has been extreme volatility in the markets, and the current view of the economy can be described as clouded and uncertain,” Striplin said, adding at that time research from JP Morgan put the chance of a recession this year at 60%.
A recent de-escalation of trade tensions was cited as a reason why JP Morgan’s estimate dropped to 40% a month later, but the concerns and potential volatility remain, according to its most recent comments on the forecast May 27.
Striplin said the city is once again well-positioned to weather the storm due to policies he described recently as “three decades of consistent, responsible, fiscal management.”
As part of the city’s “look ahead” for the next year, there are five “majpr facilities and amenities” in the works, which are part of the spending plan.
Those plans include: David March Park ($13.3 million), Old Orchard Park ($8.1 million), The Rink ($28.5 million), a hydrogen fueling station ($14 million) and Haskell Canyon/Blue Cloud Bike Park.
The biggest item in the capital improvement budget is the design and construction of Via Princessa Park, a $34.5 million plan for a 34-acre park along Via Princessa, northeast of the intersection of Whites Canyon Road and Via Princessa. The project also includes off-site improvements to adjacent properties to the northeast and along Weyerhauser Way.
The city’s $81.5 million for capital improvements is a 15% reduction from the previous year, with Striplin also said the total called for 44 projects, which represented $67.8 million in new projects.
The city’s general fund revenue, which is supported largely by local sales and property taxes, is projected to increase by 2.4% to $152.7 million.
For perspective, the city’s spending total is about $2 million more than estimated actual spending for the William S. Hart Union High School District in 2024-25 budget ending June 30. The district oversees the education of about 22,000 local junior high and high school students.
The city’s total is also about $20 million less than the $364.2 million budgeted for the next fiscal year by the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, which manages the local water supply for about 273,000 customers through 70,000 retail connections.
