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Lompoc council agrees on high-level goals for next budget cycle, schedules April workshops
Summary
At a Feb. 11 budget workshop the Lompoc City Council reached general consensus on four overarching goals for the 2025–27 budget and added a fifth emphasizing infrastructure and capital improvements; staff will return with detailed priorities and budget numbers at workshops April 22 and April 29.
The Lompoc City Council gave general consensus Feb. 11 on four high-level goals to guide the 2025–27 budget process and added a fifth goal focused on infrastructure and capital improvements.
Council members, led in the discussion by Christie Donnelly, Manager Services Director, agreed to retain the previously published goals — effective public safety, economic vitality, long-term fiscal health and improved quality of life — and to add “enhance infrastructure and capital improvements” as a distinct priority. The council asked staff to use those goals as a framework while departments prepare detailed objectives and budget requests.
Donnelly told the council this workshop was the first step in setting the council’s vision for the budget; staff will translate council direction into department-level SMART objectives and return with evaluations and budget numbers. City staff scheduled two follow-up workshops focused on capital and operating budgets: April 22 (capital improvement plan) and April 29 (operating budget). A draft budget presentation is planned for June 3, with adoption required by June 30.
Council members repeatedly urged staff to bring more specificity to the next rounds of materials so elected officials can weigh trade-offs before staff spend substantial time developing proposals. Mayor James Mosby and several council members asked for mid-year or checkpoint reports so the council can measure progress against the goals rather than only seeing end-of-cycle summaries.
Public commenters and individual council members also requested that staff consider program-level refinements — for example a business liaison role and ADU funding mechanisms — as staff assembles concrete budget proposals.
The council did not take a formal roll-call vote on the goals during the workshop; members signaled agreement by general consensus. Staff will return with more detailed priorities and proposed allocations at the April workshops.
