Encinitas council backs expanded cost‑benefit analysis for Climate Action Plan update despite cost concerns

The Encinitas City Council on May approved staff’s request to amend the CAP consultant agreement to add a full benefit‑cost analysis (BCA) that would quantify costs and benefits of proposed greenhouse‑gas reduction measures through 2045. The amendment expands the scope of work and adds approximately $142,008 to the contract in order to model municipal and community costs and benefits and produce a prioritized list of measures for budgeting.

Staff framed the change as a direct response to a council work plan item asking for a comparative cost‑benefit view of CAP measures, including community participation costs and net present value comparisons. Planning staff described the difference between the implementation cost analysis (ICA) already underway — which looks at first‑five‑year municipal costs — and the requested BCA, which would estimate total costs and benefits across 20 years, allowing the city to compare dollars per metric ton of CO2e avoided.

Planning staff summarized the rationale: “The benefit cost analysis will quantify costs and benefits in net present value, assess cost effectiveness of CAP measures, and provide a prioritized list of measures which could be used for future budgeting,” staff told council. Staff said the BCA would apply SANDAG’s RECAP framework and would exclude four measures that are not feasibly quantifiable at this time.

Council debate highlighted cost and timing concerns. Councilmember O’Hara called the $142,000 increase a “guesstimate” and urged caution: “What I heard was it’s a guesstimate,” he said, asking whether the city could renegotiate the price. Councilmember Schaeffer and others said they supported getting a framework but wanted assurances the scope and price were right. Supporters said the study would help the city compare measures on a consistent metric and guide future investments.

Vote and next steps Council approved a substitute motion to accept staff’s recommendation to add the BCA to the CAP update and to move forward with contract amendment tasks; the substitute motion passed with Councilmembers O’Hara and San Antonio voting no. Staff expects the BCA to cost roughly $142,008 in addition to prior contract work; staff also reported that the draft implementation cost analysis — the ICA that covers the first five years — currently estimates roughly $35 million in municipal costs to implement CAP measures over the near term.

Staff will return with refined deliverables and updated schedules and said it will post drafts for public review as part of the CAP update process.

Ending Council’s decision authorizes a more comprehensive economic assessment to inform which CAP measures the city prioritizes for funding and implementation. While the BCA will increase consultant costs in the short term, proponents argued it will produce a metric — dollars per metric ton of CO2e avoided — that can sharpen budget choices over the plan’s 20‑year horizon.