Special City Council Meeting Summary - January 28, 2026
Special City Council Meeting Summary - January 28, 2026
The Monterey City Council held a special meeting on January 28, 2026. The meeting included a closed session (no reportable action), followed by action on a CAL FIRE grant for fuel reduction, a presentation on stormwater utility fee study results, and a discussion on budget deficit reduction strategies and potential ballot measures for the June 2026 election.
Consent Calendar
- Item 3 (Consent): Approved unanimously. No other details provided.
Public Comments & Testimony
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Item 2 (CAL FIRE Grant):
- Adam, on behalf of the Monterey County Association of Realtors, expressed support for the grant, asking that the city prioritize residential neighborhoods at risk, create buffer zones, and document work so homeowners can potentially receive insurance rate reductions.
- Nina Beattie opposed the grant, arguing that CAL FIRE's vegetation management practices increase fire danger, reduce moisture, and promote flammable grasses and thistles. She also raised concerns about smart meters, lithium-ion batteries, weather modification, and microwave radiation stressing trees.
- Esther asked that Laguna Grande Park not be overlooked when distributing grant funds, noting that trail maintenance behind homes had been paused and that an area with homeless encampments and dense brush needs fire mitigation.
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Item 4 (Stormwater Fee):
- Lori asked about the connection between the stormwater fee and the city's Local Coastal Plan certification.
- Tom compared the proposed $7.72/month fee to the previous fee of $5.70, questioned why it could not be reinstated without a Prop 218 process, and expressed surprise at low survey support.
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Item 5 (Budget Deficit and Ballot Measures): No public comments received.
Discussion Items
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Item 2: Accept CAL FIRE Grant for Citywide Fuel Reduction
- Staff presented the grant: $950,000 from CAL FIRE with a $100,000 city match (using NCIP funds). The funds support operations and maintenance, not capital improvements. Council discussed prioritization (based on high-fire-severity zones), public mapping of completed projects, and the role of vegetation management in preventing crown fires.
- The fire chief confirmed work with CAL FIRE and noted a 2025 report on defensible space inspections to be released soon.
- Motion to accept grant and authorize funds passed unanimously.
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Item 4: Stormwater Utility Fee Study Results
- Staff and consultant Chris Colter presented survey results: 4,100 surveys mailed, 20% return rate, margin of error 2.93%. At $7.72/month ($92.64/year), support was 42.9% (needs 50%+1 to pass). All tested projects received >50% importance rating, with cleaning drains before storms at 72% support.
- The fee would fund operations and maintenance (O&M), but not capital projects (covered by Measure P and S sales tax until they expire in 2027). Council discussed compliance risks (fines up to $10,000/day for permit violations) and the city's previous fee of $5.70.
- The adopted catch basin program was highlighted as a volunteer opportunity.
- Motion to authorize staff to initiate the fee adoption process (Prop 218) passed unanimously.
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Item 5: Budget Deficit Update and Ballot Measures
- Finance Director Rafela King presented the structural deficit: $112M revenue vs. $124M expenses projected for FY 26-27, with a $10.5M deficit. Key cost drivers included salary increases (4% per year MOUs), growth in FTEs from 450 to 485 since 2021, insurance premium increases (liability up 400% since 2020 to $3.3M), retirement contributions, and debt service for fire trucks.
- Council questioned the sudden $10M deficit versus prior smaller deficits. Staff explained that one-time fixes (unfunded positions, reserve draws, service cuts) balanced the current year, but ongoing structural imbalance persists.
- Assistant City Manager Nat presented ballot measure options for June 2026: a 0.375% sales tax (9-year sunset) and a parking tax (staff recommended 8%, with estimated revenue $447k–$633k/year based on 60–85% occupancy). Polling on parking tax showed 44% yes, 44% no, but council felt education could improve support.
- Council decided to hold the admissions tax for further study and not place it on the June ballot.
Key Outcomes
- Item 2: Motion to accept the CAL FIRE grant and authorize the $950,000 revenue increase and $100,000 match (FY27-28) passed unanimously.
- Item 4: Motion to authorize staff to proceed with the stormwater fee adoption process passed unanimously.
- Item 5: Motion to place two measures on the June 2, 2026 ballot passed unanimously:
- 0.375% sales tax with a 9-year sunset.
- 8% parking tax (no sunset).
- The admissions tax was not included; staff will continue to study it for a potential November 2026 ballot.
- Staff will return on February 17, 2026, with a fiscal emergency declaration and resolutions to call the election.
Meeting Transcript
How do we give us a hug Welcome to our special council meeting today, January 28th, 2026. We're going to call the meeting to order. And I'll pass to Clementine for a roll call. Any other announcements with the public? Councilmember Barber. Present. Council Member Garcia. Council Member Rash here. Council Member Smith. And Mayor Williamson. And public comment and participation information is provided on this meeting's agenda, which is online at moderate.gov slash agendas. In-person attendees, please keep your electronic devices muted to prevent audio interference. Consistent with the First Amendment and the Brown Act, individuals have the right to speak at public meetings, which includes the right to criticize or support city policies or actions. So I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one. And we have two folks, so we'll go ahead and take those callers. I have a general public comment, and I don't know if you I think this is the appropriate time to have a general public comment. No, sir, we'll we'll get to that after our closed session. Well, that's I want to comment on that. I want to I want to suggest that you hold the closed session at the end of the agenda. Um, so no, I'm sorry, that's this isn't the time to provide public comment on process or anything other than the item that's on the closed session agenda. So it's the I and I and I usually read it so I apologize for not reading it. It's conference with legal counsel, significant exposure to litigation pursuant to government code section five four nine five six tack ninety two e one, and it's one case. So if the public comment isn't on that, this is not the time for it. Did you have anything else, Tom, at this time? No, I think that's not a good policy, but all right, we'll go ahead and take our next caller. This one is Lori. Well, I had kind of the same thing, and I'm just gonna say I know I it sounds like now we speak during a different public comment time, but my comment is I'm sorry, I'm so but I what I need to know is it's not on the agenda. I don't see where we have general public comment. So uh nobody knows when to speak. Larry, I I unfortunately this isn't the time to provide those comments. Um, I understand, but I don't see it on the agenda when we do provide them. I don't see general public comment written in the agenda, so I don't know when to call in. Sorry, hold up, hold tight. Lori, that's correct, you don't see it. Um, and that's uh not required when there's a special city council. General public comment is not a requirement under the Brown Act. So there need not be a time for general public comment at this meeting, and the agenda does not have that on the agenda. That's correct. Okay, so we're going to go ahead and close public comment because there doesn't seem to be any public comment on the closed session item. And with that, we'll go ahead and recess to the closed session. Thank you, everybody. Yes, yes. How do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a h do we give us a hug Welcome everybody to our special council meeting, January twentieth, twenty twenty-six. We already called the meeting to order. We just finished closed session. Um, so we're gonna we're reconvening here. Um but before we go into the agenda, I just want to do a few things. Um, first of all, everybody will have there so because this is a special council meeting, there's no general public comment like you would see on a regular council agenda. So there was some confusion when we were receiving some public comment on the closed session agenda items at the beginning of today's council meeting. So I just wanted to provide that clarity for everybody.
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