La Habra Heights council study session focuses on fire funding, equipment needs and push for a "needs" budget

La Habra Heights held a special council study session April 20 to review the preliminary 2026–27 budget, with councilmembers and residents probing funding for the fire department, capital needs and whether the draft should be paired with a separate needs-based schedule to support future tax or assessment measures.

Stephen Blagdon, a Citron Road resident who spoke during public comment, urged the council to explore governance alternatives and to add clearer footnotes and line-item sources in the budget. "Measure W cannot be used for street sweeping," Blagdon said, and he asked for explicit documentation when one-time funds such as ARPA were used to cover recurring costs.

Angie, the city's finance presenter, said the draft is preliminary and that staff will add explanatory footnotes at the next workshop ahead of a June 8 adoption. She summarized the current numbers as draft estimates: proposed general‑fund expenditures of about $6.9 million, projected recurring revenue near $5.5 million, a projected fire tax of roughly $1.3 million and a capital‑improvement program estimate of about $2.8 million for 2026–27, funded in part by Assessment District 7 and several restricted sources such as Metro and CDBG.

Councilmembers…