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The Beverly Hills City Council voted 4-1 to approve the budget, with outgoing Councilman Mirisch voting no. (photo by Tabor Brewster)
The Beverly Hills City Council on June 23 voted 4-1 to approve the city budget for fiscal year 2026-27. Outgoing Councilman John Mirisch voted no. The $695.2 million citywide budget projects approximately $675.4 million in revenue, according to a report by City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey. The general fund – the primary operating fund of the city – includes an operating budget of $351.6 million and projects $346.7 million in revenue, creating an initial $4.9 million operating gap. The budget offsets the operating gap through a one-time $5 million reduction in transfers to the city’s Infrastructure Fund.
Public safety remains the city’s highest expense, at $189 million. The proposed budget allocates $124.9 million to the Beverly Hills Police Department, a 6.8% increase, and $64.1 million to the fire department, a 0.2% increase.
The report allocates $167.9 million to the Public Works Department, a 3.5% increase from fiscal year 2025-26. Approximately $35.5 million is allocated to human resources, a 0.6% increase, and $29.2 million is allocated to community development, a 1% increase.
The budget also allocates $109 million to the capital improvement program across 72 distinct projects, including “water infrastructure upgrades; street, sidewalk and traffic safety enhancements; facility and park renovations; vehicle fleet optimization and replacement; and technology advancements, particularly those bolstering public safety.”
The budget includes $171.6 million in city employee salaries and benefits, an increase of approximately $7.9 million, or 4.8%, from fiscal year 2025-26. Personnel costs account for roughly 49% of the city’s general fund spending.
The city’s top general fund revenue sources for fiscal year 2026-27 as listed in the report are property taxes, generating $115.5 million, business taxes, at $65.4 million, sales taxes, at $47.8 million and hotel taxes at $46.7 million.
The budget includes a 10-year general fund forecast, providing a long-term outlook for the city’s revenue and expenditures. The forecast projects an $8.4 million general fund deficit in fiscal year 2027-28, followed by a $1.9 million deficit in fiscal year 2028-29, before returning to a projected $6 million surplus in fiscal year 2029-30. The report attributes the turnaround to anticipated revenue from planned development projects, including the $10 billion One Beverly Hills luxury development.
Though Beverly Hills is facing anticipated deficits, the city’s general fund reserves are expected to reach $293.9 million by the end of fiscal year 2025-26, which the report described as strong.
“Beverly Hills benefits from strong general fund reserves, a result of the fiscal prudence of current and prior City Councils,” the report stated. “A primary function of these reserves is to provide stability during times of financial stress and resources for strategic one-time needs. The city has preserved and expanded key reserves, including the economic/contingency and budget stabilization reserves. Currently, overall general fund reserves remain above the levels required by city financial policies.”
At his final City Council meeting, Mirisch voted against its approval, arguing that the city can improve the value of public services provided to taxpayers based on how much they are currently spending.
“I’ve long felt that government in general can always do better when it comes to providing taxpayers with the value for money. I don’t think we’re there yet,” Mirisch said. “Consistent with my votes in the past, I won’t be supporting the budget, but I do recognize that there has been improvement from some of the past years. There’s still a lot of improvement that can be made.”
Mayor Craig Corman expressed confidence in the approved budget for the anticipated fiscal year.
“Although I respect my colleague, Councilmember Mirisch’s comments, I actually think this is a responsible document,” Corman said. “I think it’s a responsible budget, it’s conservative and it’s a roadmap to keep us on a financially healthy path.”
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Beverly Hills City Council OKs $695.2 million budget – Beverly Press & Park Labrea News
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