Malibu Savings Drained as FEMA Money Stalled at White House

Red flags are flying at Malibu City Hall — warnings about pending financial problems.

The city's savings have dropped from $84 million to $55 million at the end of this fiscal year. The city spent almost $35 million on the fires and recovery. About $22 million was expected to be reimbursed by the federal government, but that FEMA money is held up in a political battle between Trump and Democrats in Congress.

The city warns that federal government reimbursements — the FEMA money held up at the White House — may not arrive until after the next presidential election, like in 2030.

Sales and overnight rental revenues are still down after the fires. The big source of tax revenue, property taxes, are slowing down as fire damaged properties pay less.

Inflation, up. Tariffs, up. Construction and maintenance costs, up.

And even if Malibu's tax revenues rebound after the fires destroyed one tenth of the city's housing stock, spending is on track to outpace revenue.

Irvin proposes that the city stop raiding the savings account. He wants each department to cut 10 percent of its costs. He proposes reducing the city's staff count by leaving some positions vacant and charging more for some fee-based services.

But one discretionary item will remain in the budget, under priorities set by the city council finance subcommittee. That would be more than $3 million to design and construct the Snack Shack at Bluffs Park.

The city council will meet in a special session to discuss the budget next Wednesday afternoon at 2.