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Laguna Beach mayor says 2025-26 budget is balanced but prioritizes infrastructure, wildfire mitigation and pension costs
Summary
Mayor Alex Runagi told a radio interviewer the proposed 2025-26 budget is balanced at about $130 million, with reserves intact, and he urged a focus on deferred infrastructure, seismic upgrades for fire stations, sewer investments, wildfire fuel modification and managing CalPERS liabilities.
Mayor Alex Runagi of Laguna Beach said the city is presenting a balanced 2025-26 budget of roughly $130 million in expenditures and is keeping reserve and disaster contingency funds fully funded, but urged greater investment in deferred infrastructure and wildfire mitigation.
Runagi made the remarks during a radio interview on Barrow Game Laguna, saying the city’s revenue stability — “primarily funded by property taxes” — helps, but that rising costs and long-term liabilities require strategic choices. “We have a lot of deferred infrastructure that needs investing in,” Runagi said.
Why it matters: Runagi framed the budget as a tool to address several capital needs that he said are pressing for public safety and basic services. He identified four fire stations the city considers seismically unsound, said the city will build a fire…
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