$260-Million Budget Wins City Approval

The Newport Beach City Council approved a $260 million budget late Tuesday, and gave its support to some last minute expenses.

The council's vote serves as the final stamp of approval for the 2012-13 fiscal year budget. The city manager first proposed the budget on May 3 and it was later discussed by the council on May 22. Since the last meeting, three positions were cut from the budget which brings the total eliminated positions to 11 for the year. Before Tuesday's vote, the City Council was presented with a list of expenses that were recently tacked onto the budget. The two items that were debated at Tuesday's meeting included an about $1.8 million request to purchase a new fire engine ladder truck, a pumper truck and an ambulance for the Newport Beach Fire Department and a $15,000 grant for the Balboa Island Historical Society.

Mayor Nancy Gardner said she questioned if the new fire vehicles would meet the needs of the city.

"All three vehicles are essential for the service in Newport Beach," Fire Chief Scott Poster explained. "It's extremely important for us right now."

The council later voted to include the fire vehicles into the budget.

Tom Popplewell, executive director of the Balboa Island Historical Society, addressed the council to encourage support for the museum's grant.

"The $15,000 grant will be used to increase the service to the community and increase the collection of island memorabilia," Popplewell said. "This next year comes with many fiscal challenges, while we will be conducting an aggressive fundraising campaign I cannot overemphasize the criticality for our fundraising request that will ensure the fiscal stability of the museum.”

Gardner said she did not support giving the group more money.

"I think that’s a tremendous amount of money for plans that have not come to fruition," she said. "All the other things are related to streets and roads, and this is the only thing that just seems an anomaly to me."

But the majority of the City Council sided with the Balboa Island Historical Society and approved the $15,000 grant.

“A city is more than simply its streets and gutters,  it’s the sum of its cultural facilities that create the public value and ambiance that make Newport Beach the special place it is to live," Mayor Pro Tem Keith Curry said. "I know people are concerned about process and transparency but I think Newport Beach does very well. I will also say that we ended the year with a $4.4 million surplus, the highest level of reserves in our city's history and triple-A bond ratings."