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Council adopts 2026 fiscal budget using debt-financing plan; council instructs staff to minimize loan size
Summary
Woodland Hills City Council adopted Ordinance 2025-30 to approve the fiscal 2026 budget using a debt-financing plan that accelerates road projects (Option C). Council specified the loan amount be no greater than the option C figure and directed staff to reduce borrowing where feasible.
The Woodland Hills City Council adopted the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget under Ordinance 2025-30 after public hearings on the proposal and a staff presentation of financing options. The council selected a financing strategy (referred to in the meeting as “Option C”) that uses debt financing to complete road projects over approximately two years while preserving a city cash reserve.
Mayor and finance staff described three scenarios the city had analyzed. Under Option C the city would pay off an existing 2% note, borrow new funds at an estimated higher interest rate (the bond market quotations during the meeting were in the mid‑4% range) and complete a multi-phase pavement management plan. City finance staff said the approach reduces the need for immediate property tax increases and limits the risk of repeatedly postponing infrastructure work as construction costs rise.
Council members repeatedly said they want to minimize the loan. The motion the council approved specified adoption of Option C but directed staff to borrow no more than the Option C amount reflected in the budget documents and to use available savings where prudent to reduce the new borrowing. Council members asked staff to continue refining numbers with the city’s financial adviser and to time any loan closing to capture lower rates if the market improves.
During the public hearing a resident praised city efficiencies and acknowledged rising costs; no substantive protests to the budget were recorded. The council also asked staff to invite the city’s financing adviser to brief the council on the details and to involve the finance committee in future meetings.
What happens next: staff will finalize documents with the city’s financial adviser, bring bond documents and any implementing resolutions to council for formal adoption, and proceed with engineering and contracting to begin road projects under the approved financing plan.
