After a six-month development process, the City Council has once again passed an on-time, balanced city budget for the 2019/2020 Fiscal Year.

The approval of an on-time and balanced annual budget has been the tradition in Santa Clarita every year since the city was formed nearly 32 years ago and is the backbone to efficient local government services.

Our conservative budget philosophies ensure we are able to consistently provide high-quality, essential services while adding new offerings and meeting new demands in the community. I am also happy to report we continue to maintain healthy emergency reserves and the highest (AAA) credit rating from Standard and Poor’s.

The budget for this fiscal year comes in at $225.9 million, which represents an 11 percent increase over the previous year’s adopted budget.

Some of the highlights of the budget include increases for local law enforcement services to ensure our city has the resources necessary to remain one of the safest in the nation; funding to purchase new books and online resources for the three branches of our Santa Clarita Public Library; funding for a temporary public art program; and funding for the Pace Bike Share program, which will be rolling into its second year.

Within the approved budget is also funding for our annual Capital Improvement Program, which will total $36.6 million. The high quality of life we enjoy in Santa Clarita is due to the investments made in these new and existing assets, which not only includes buildings, but also miles of roadways, dozens of parks, thousands of acres of open space, miles of trails and thousands of trees.

Funding for the Capital Improvement Program this year will be used for landscaping, circulation, and maintenance to parks, streets, bridges, trail and transit amenities.

Some of the other exciting projects being funded through this year’s budget include more sports fields, parking and restrooms at Central Park, the next phase of our Intelligent Transportation System (to enhance stoplight synchronization and improve circulation), additional work on the Sand Canyon Trail and a new BMX bike track.

The approval of the annual budget is always exciting, and this year is no exception. As we enter the final year of our strategic plan, Santa Clarita 2020, the work efforts contained in this document include many high-profile projects that will have long-lasting and positive impacts on Santa Clarita for decades.

Overall, the organization is in a solid financial position, and I am confident we will continue to provide exceptional services that exceed expectations in the community.

For more information on our city budget, please visit santa-clarita.com.