La Habra council unanimously receives midyear budget update, approves appropriations for consultants and navigation centers

The La Habra City Council on March 2, 2026, received a midyear budget update that projects general fund revenue of $70,300,000 against expenditures of $68,900,000, leaving an estimated positive variance of about $1,430,000, Assistant City Manager Gabby Yap told the council.

"General fund revenue is expected to end the year at $70,300,000," Yap said in her presentation, which covered actuals from July through December 2025 and department projections. Yap said the citys three largest revenue sources are property tax ($26,000,000, about 37%), the Measure V transactions and use tax ($14,600,000, about 20.8%), and sales tax ($13,600,000, about 19.3%). The report also highlighted roughly $51,000,000 in capital projects for the fiscal year, including Vin Scully Centennial Park.

Councilmember Darin McSherry moved to "receive and file the fiscal year 202526 2026 midyear budget update" and to approve multiple appropriations noted by staff; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. The motion directed a professional-services appropriation to the community development department and approved a $260,000 appropriation from the low- and moderate-income housing assets fund and an opioid-settlement appropriation to support North Service Planning Area navigation centers.

The transcript records a discrepancy between the staff presentation and the motion language: staff recommended an appropriation of $195,000 for the CAMI Development professional services account during the presentation, while the motion as spoken in the meeting record refers to an appropriation of $19,095,000 for the community development professional services budget. The council vote recorded the motion as "carried unanimously." The article reports both figures exactly as they appear in the meeting record and staff presentation and does not reconcile them.

Mayor Medrano praised use of settlement funds to address local needs. "I'm glad we're able to partake in that," he said, referring to opioid settlement dollars directed toward navigation centers.

The council also discussed staffing challenges: staff said the city currently has 16 full-time vacancies and 37 part-time vacancies and continues to rely on contract consultants for specialized positions such as engineers and building inspectors. The council asked staff to continue monitoring sales-tax trends and other revenue sources and to post the full staff report and supporting documents on the city website for public review.

The motion to receive and file the midyear budget update and to approve the listed appropriations passed on a unanimous vote by the council.