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Agoura Hills council restores Fiddle Fest sponsorship, adjusts community grants; vote unanimous
Summary
During a budget workshop the council reinstated a $3,000 appropriation for the Banjo/Fiddle Fest and approved modest increases to several community grants, with staff reporting the changes leave a small projected surplus.
The Agoura Hills City Council approved adjustments to the city’s community-grants allocations during a budget workshop, including restoring $3,000 in sponsorship funding for the Banjo/Fiddle Fest and increasing awards to several nonprofit applicants.
Mayor Sylvester and members of the finance subcommittee said the council trimmed many requests to stay within a $30,000 community-grant appropriation. The finance subcommittee recommended funding levels that kept the total at $30,000; during the workshop councilmembers discussed modest increases to several line items and agreed to reinstate a $3,000 sponsorship for the Banjo/Fiddle Fest this year.
Council members also discussed increasing Malibu Search and Rescue’s grant to $2,000 and restoring Many Mansions to $2,500 so those organizations would not receive a large cut from prior years. Councilmembers raised the Cougar Conservancy’s request — council discussion used multiple, inconsistent figures for that line item during the meeting and the transcript does not record a single clear final dollar amount for the Conservancy in isolation. Staff reported that the combined adjustments discussed increased grants by about $2,145 and, after rounding, left an estimated surplus of roughly $2,946 in the proposed FY25–26 budget.
A motion to adopt the discussed community-grant adjustments passed on a roll-call vote, with all five council members recorded as voting aye. The council did not increase the overall community-grants appropriation above the previously budgeted $30,000; staff said the city had a small cushion from other budget adjustments to cover the increases without drawing down committed reserves.
Councilmembers emphasized the challenge of distributing a limited pool among many applicants and said the committee sought to treat prior recipients equitably while supporting a few new projects. Assistant City Manager Romero Deva and finance staff said they would reflect the approved changes in the final budget documents and report back at the next meeting or mid-cycle review.
