Monrovia council approves budget adjustments, $1 million dispatch console upgrade and small fee changes

The Monrovia City Council on Oct. 21 unanimously approved a set of quarter-one adjustments to the city's fiscal-year 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets, including a $1,000,000 allocation to replace the city's police dispatch consoles and a $6 increase to the fee for traffic collision reports.

City finance staff presented preliminary, pre-audit results for fiscal 2024-25 showing the general fund finished the year better than budgeted. "The city remains in a stable financial position," staff member Ray said during the presentation, adding that one-time PFAS settlement revenues contributed to stronger-than-expected results.

The adjustments approved by the council include a proposed $500,000 set-aside from the 2024-25 surplus to support economic development and preparations tied to the 2028 Summer Olympics (each program $250,000), a $1,000,000 budget increase for a police dispatch console replacement project and other routine technical changes. Staff reported an estimated 2024-25 general-fund surplus of about $2.7 million (roughly $1.8 million better than budget) and a revised 2025-26 projected surplus of about $1.12 million after the adjustments.

Why it matters: Council members and staff said the dispatch upgrade is intended to modernize an analog system the city currently uses for emergency dispatching and to ensure interoperability during outages and multiagency responses. Ray noted the city is one of the last agencies in Los Angeles County still using an analog dispatch system.

Council also approved a minor fees schedule update that included raising the traffic collision report fee by $6 to cover costs for the records-request management portal and a clerical update renaming the credit-card convenience fee to a "third-party payment processor fee." Staff said the traffic collision report fee is most commonly requested by insurance companies and is a production fee rather than a charge to file a police report.

Measure K and library update: As part of the budget presentation staff updated the council on Measure K, the local sales-tax measure the city uses for capital and community projects. Staff reported the Measure K fund balance is growing and projected to exceed $30 million by 2026-27. The presentation noted the library facility enhancement budget currently includes $6 million, but an updated engineer's estimate showed costs approaching $12 million. Staff said they will return to council with options, prioritization and narrower cost estimates before moving to construction.

Council action and next steps: Council moved and seconded the two separate resolutions presented this evening'the fiscal update (Resolution No. 2025-51) and the schedule of fees and charges update (Resolution No. 2025-52)'and approved both by roll call. The city manager and finance staff will return with the final audited numbers once the city's annual comprehensive financial report is complete and with a second-quarter budget update in February or sooner if needed.

The council also reached consensus to cancel its Nov. 4 meeting because that date coincides with a statewide special election; staff will notify the public and the council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18.

Ending: Staff materials and the detailed list of CIP and revenue/expenditure adjustments are available as attachments to the adopted resolutions and staff said they will present the final audited 2024-25 results and any follow-up items at future meetings.