City Council

City staff is giving the Council an update on winter storm and emergency preparedness. On the morning of October 7, staff will attend a regional briefing hosted by the Santa Cruz County Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience with the National Weather Service about the weather outlook under the current El Niño pattern, and will report back verbally at the evening Council meeting. Staff is also building a new Emergency Preparedness section on the City website that gathers preparedness links in one place and posts the City's 2024 Emergency Operations Plan with an explanation of what it is. The recommendation is for Council to receive the update, give input on the webpage, and promote a free online preparedness workshop on October 14.

The Council would decide whether to adopt a resolution stating the city's opposition to California Proposition 43.

City staff propose switching Scotts Valley from writing a new budget every year to writing one two-year (biennial) budget, starting with Fiscal Years 2027/28 and 2028/29. A yes vote would approve the change and direct staff to start building the first two-year budget during the current fiscal year. The plan keeps formal money reviews in place: a mid-year financial review in each of the two years, plus a full review and update of the second year's budget before that year begins, with amendments brought to the Council as needed.