CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council this week will consider adopting the city’s budget for fiscal year 2021-22, which includes massive investment in infrastructure thanks to an influx of revenue and grants that have tripled the anticipated revenue over that of the current year’s budget.
The council will meet for a budget preparation workshop at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 17, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, ahead of the regular session that begins at 6 p.m.
The public may attend, however, the council chambers will have limited capacity and attendees must adhere to masking and social distancing mandates.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also visit the city’s town hall site and submit written comments at https://www.opentownhall.com/portals/327/forum_home. Identify the subject you wish to comment on in your email’s subject line or in your town hall submission.
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 17.
Under presentations, the council will meet one of June’s adoptable dogs.
The council on Thursday will hold public hearings to approve the city’s appropriations, or Gann, limit, ahead of the approval of the 2021-22 fiscal year budget and the new fiscal year’s fee schedule.
The budget document can be found here.
Revenues in all city funds for 2021-22 total $53,684,925. Compare that to the $18,274,194 in the 2020-21 budget and $23,446,230 for the 2019-20 budget.
For 2021-22, expenditures for all funds are forecast at $57,461,766.11.
“The big story in this budget is what can only be described as an enormous and unprecedented investment in infrastructure,” City Manager Alan Flora explained in his budget message.
He said the proposed capital projects budget exceeds $36 million. “This investment has been made possible due primarily to over $14 million in settlement proceeds from litigation and nearly $14 million in CDBG Disaster Recovery dollars for two large road rehabilitation projects in and around the Sulphur Fire area.”
He said those funds, and a mix of other dollars, will allow projects long desired by the city to move forward over the next couple of years.
Those projects, Flora said, include:
— infrastructure development at the Pearce Field retail center;
— a new mixed-use development on Burns Valley Road, including a housing project, a new Public Works yard, a soccer and baseball complex, and a recreation center;
— corridor improvements on Lakeshore Drive; and
— additional improvements in Austin Park.
Flora said there also are nearly 15 miles of road improvements included in the proposed budget.
“There are likely to be additional grant awards for infrastructure investment that will be received by the city within this fiscal year, but since they are pending official award notifications we have not included them in the budget,” he said.
“The City is clearly experiencing a resurgence, and the combination of infrastructure and private investment completed over the next couple of years will define a new trajectory in Clearlake’s future,” Flora wrote.
He notes challenges that remain, including addressing blight and properties with tax delinquencies.
“While the list of challenges we face is long, I believe the opportunity in front of us is enormous. Investment interest in our community is high and I believe the change coming in the next few years will overshadow the challenges of the past,” said Flora, adding it’s going to be a great year.
Also on Thursday, the council will get the city’s annual financial report for the year ended June 30, 2019.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are usually adopted on a single vote — are Resolution 2021-30, adopting a project list for submission to the California Transportation
Committee for funding under the provisions of SB1; second reading of Ordinance No. 254-2021, for Development Agreement 2021-02 for Akwaaba Inc., to allow the expansion of its existing cannabis operation to include a microbusiness; second reading of Ordinance No. 255-2021, for Development Agreement 2021-03 with Green Growth Solutions LLC for a commercial cannabis operation; minutes of the May 12 Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on March 14, 2020, and ratified by council action on March 19, 2020; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Oct. 9, 2017, and ratified by council action Oct. 12, 2017; warrants; and Resolution 2021-29, approving a temporary road closure for the annual Independence Day parade on July 3.
The council will meet in closed session following the public portion of the meeting to discuss ongoing negotiations with the Clearlake Municipal Employees Association, Clearlake Police Officers Association and Clearlake Middle Management Association.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Clearlake’s new fiscal year budget includes massive infrastructure investment
- Elizabeth Larson
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