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Los Banos City Council approves purchase of three digital scoreboards amid cost concerns
Summary
The Los Banos City Council approved buying three digital scoreboard boards despite at least one council member opposing the purchase because the price reportedly doubled. Staff said advertising revenue could pay for the signs over roughly 10 years and that user fees and operating costs are reviewed on a multi-year cycle.
The Los Banos City Council approved the purchase of three digital scoreboard boards, with one council member saying they could not support the project because the price had doubled.
The disagreement came during council discussion about the proposed replacement of community digital signage and scoreboards. A council member who opposed the item said, “I cannot support this project tonight because number 1, it has doubled in price,” and added that other priorities were looming for the city.
Council member Lummis urged colleagues to consider inflation and rising labor and fuel costs, saying, “If not now, when? And, later on down the line, it's just gonna be more expensive.”
Council member Jones asked staff whether the sign would pay for itself through advertising revenue. A parks staff member estimated that, based on the higher cost, the sign would be paid off in about 10 years and that modern signs typically last 10 to 15 years; with newer technology they might expect 12 to 15 years of life. The staff member said, “So worst case scenario, it's a wash. It's budget neutral.” The staff member also said that the estimate was conservative and based on current revenue from the existing sign and that the new sign could attract more advertising.
City staff described the existing West I Street and Pacheco sign policy as an economic development user fee and said the current listed fee for that sign is $119.52. A staff member identified as Brenda told the council the city’s user-fee schedule was adopted around 2018–2019 and that user fees are typically reviewed on a five‑year basis; she suggested the council could direct staff to start the review earlier because of current inflationary pressures. Staff said the user-fee calculation accounts for operating costs including staff time to post content, electricity and the DSL line that runs the sign.
Votes at a glance: The council approved the purchase of three digital scoreboard boards (motion text: purchase of three scoreboard boards). The meeting transcript records that one council member said they could not support the project; a full roll-call vote and the mover/second were not specified in the transcript.
The council did not specify in the recorded discussion the total contract price or the precise funding source for the purchase; those details were not specified in the transcript.
