Primary source: City of Hemet, “City Council Meeting 9/8/26,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_2tNgky4Zk. Agenda packet: CivicWeb meeting Id 6991, https://hemetca.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=6991.

Item 16.A — Ordinance No. 2081 (SKR HCP mitigation fees)
Council opened and closed the public hearing (no registered speakers), introduced Ordinance No. 2081 by title, waived full reading, and authorized return for second reading and adoption.

Staff stated on the record that the staff report’s “September 23” line was wrong and that second reading should be September 22, 2026. The motion to introduce also asked staff to return Sept. 22 for second reading.

Vote: 4-1 (electronic board announced as 4-1). Mayor Pro Tem Joe Males voted No (named on the record). Voting Yes: Mayor Linda Krupa, Connie Howard-Clark, Jaculin Peterson, and Tom Lodge. (The four Yes votes are the remaining members after the announced 4-1 with Males dissenting. This newspaper will update if posted CivicWeb minutes differ.)

Fee schedule in the introduced ordinance from the Sept. 8 packet: individual single-family residence $250 (unchanged); agricultural development $500 per gross acre; all other development $900 per gross acre.

Consent calendar
Council pulled items 18.A, 18.C, and 18.F for separate consideration. The remainder of consent, including among others Resolution 2026-148 (Vactor, 18.G), Resolution 2026-149 (McComas, 18.H), and Resolution 2026-152 (Axon, 18.K), passed unanimously, 5-0.

Item 18.F — Resolution 2026-147, twelve police vehicles
Pulled, discussed, then approved 5-0. Packet figures: aggregate cost $943,305.93, with $342,000 from Measure U.

Item 18.H — Resolution 2026-149, Jim McComas Auto Body
Rode with the consent remainder (5-0). Packet: fiscal 2026-27 not-to-exceed raised from $50,000 to $85,000, with $40,000 supplemental from Measure U fund balance.

Item 18.G — Resolution 2026-148, Vactor sewer truck
Rode with consent remainder, 5-0. Packet NTE $881,668.88.

Item 18.K — Resolution 2026-152, Axon cameras
Rode with consent remainder, 5-0. Packet NTE $165,635.01.

Item 19.B — Resolution 2026-158, Dugout Froyo kitchen grant
Award of $100,000 for Dugout Froyo at Nuke Nation passed unanimously, 5-0.

Item 19.D — Urgency Ordinance 2082 and introduction of Ordinance 2083 (cannabis permit term / extension / renewal)
Combined motion adopted urgency Ordinance 2082 and introduced Ordinance 2083, 5-0.

This is a facts-only How They Voted brief. It is not an editorial.

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The hearing is Item 16.A on the Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, regular agenda. Closed session is listed at 4 p.m. Open session is at 6 p.m. The city’s kangaroo-rat fee page lists chambers at City Hall, 445 E. Florida Ave. CivicWeb’s standing council listing uses 450 E. Latham Ave. Confirm the room at the door.

Staff Report No. 26-279 asks the council to introduce Ordinance No. 2081 by title, waive full reading, and return it for second reading and adoption. The agenda recommendation line says Sept. 22. The staff report’s discussion section says Sept. 23. This newspaper will not lock either date until the council states one on the record.

The ordinance would amend Chapter 58 to match the Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency’s 2026 nexus study, which that agency’s board adopted July 9, 2026. The city’s posted fee table and the Sept. 8 packet list:

Individual single-family residence on a single legally created lot: $250 flat, unchanged.

Agricultural development: $500 per gross acre. Staff says that simplifies a prior formula of $100 or 1 percent of valuation, capped at $500 an acre.

All other development: $900 per gross acre, up from $500. Surface mining stays on a separate calculation.

Qualifying nonprofits may still get up to a 75 percent reduction.

If adopted, the updated fees would take effect 60 days later under Government Code section 66017, staff wrote. Beginning July 1, 2027, the ordinance would allow annual CPI-U adjustments for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County region.

Staff wrote there is no direct General Fund impact. Fees are paid by applicants and remitted to the regional habitat agency.

Packet and hearing materials: CivicWeb meeting Id 6991
City fee page: City fee page
Nexus study packet: Nexus study packet

The Chronicle will report the named vote after the meeting from a primary.

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The item is Consent Calendar 18.F, Resolution 2026-147, Staff Report #26-298. Staff lists nine 2027 Ford Police Interceptor Utilities, including one K9 unit; one 2026 Ford Maverick; and two 2026 BMW RT-P motorcycles.

Funding would come from the adopted fiscal 2026-27 budget: $687,000 from the Vehicle Replacement Fund and $342,000 from Measure U, account 115.09.1000.65400. Staff wrote that no new appropriation is required. The packet cites a budget appropriation of $1,029,000 for the purchase.

Vendors listed in the packet include Peoria Ford, Tim Moran Ford of Hemet, BMW of San Marcos, AEP for upfitting, and Dungeon Wraps for decals.

Unless the item is pulled for discussion, it would be voted with the rest of the consent calendar Tuesday night.

This story does not report a vote. The council has not yet acted on the resolution.

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City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2026-27 operating budget on June 23 by Resolution 2026-105. Combined General Fund and Measure U revenues are budgeted at $86,535,000. Combined expenditures are budgeted at $96,123,000. The difference is $9,588,000, a $9.6 million use of fund balance.

Those figures come from the adopted budget tables. They are the city’s official plan for the year ending June 30, 2027.

Across all city funds, the adopted budget lists $150,757,303 in revenue and $154,184,303 in expenditures.

The combined General Fund is two pots. Fund 110 is the city’s main operating fund. It is budgeted at $69,550,000 in revenue and $74,717,000 in spending. That is a $5,167,000 gap.

Fund 115 is Measure U. Voters approved that 1 percent transactions and use tax in 2016. The adopted budget describes it as a general sales tax restricted solely to public safety by resolution. Measure U is budgeted at $16,985,000 in revenue and $21,406,000 in spending.

The Measure U gap is $4,421,000. The adopted budget says Measure U fund balance is being used to buy equipment such as radios, cameras, hoses and vehicles, to rehabilitate fire stations, and to help pay liability insurance for police and fire.

One-time Measure U uses listed in the budget total $4,537,000. The largest items are $1.5 million for retiring police personnel payouts and $1.5 million toward the liability insurance premium. Other listed items include four police interceptors, 50 radios, two traffic motorcycles, cameras, Fire Station 5 work, and fire hose replacements.

One-time General Fund uses listed in the budget total $1,233,000. They include downtown parking lot repavement, a truck routing ordinance, radios, storage work, branding, Christmas decorations, and other one-time purchases.

The budget says revenues have begun to flatten while costs keep rising. It cites inflation, personnel costs, insurance, and contracts. Cost-containment steps in the document include a hiring freeze on vacant posts, limiting new hires to mission-critical and revenue-generating jobs, and a 10 percent cut in department maintenance and operations spending.

Citywide positions are down 8.5 full-time equivalents from the prior adopted budget. The document lists 17 frozen positions, including six police officers, a deputy fire chief, and other public safety and civilian posts.

Liability insurance is called out as a major pressure. For fiscal 2026-27, the budget puts liability premiums at about $7.0 million, plus a $2.0 million self-insured retention for claims. That is about 4.9 percent higher than the prior year, the document says.

Hemet’s written reserve policy requires spendable, unrestricted General Fund reserves equal to at least 40 percent of current expenditures. The City Council raised that target from 20 percent to 40 percent beginning in fiscal 2023-24. The adopted budget says the reserve totaled about $28.9 million as of June 30, 2025.

The city’s latest posted Annual Comprehensive Financial Report remains the report for the year ended June 30, 2024. That is the newest ACFR on the Finance Department’s financial information page.

The operating budget is separate from the capital program. The city’s five-year Capital Improvement Program for fiscal 2026-27 through 2030-31 lists a grand total of $159,501,108. The fiscal 2026-27 column is $21,736,408. Those totals are in the CIP project summary, not the operating-budget tables.

On the November 3, 2026, ballot, Hemet voters will decide Measure Q. It is a separate 1-cent transactions and use tax. The City Council placed it on the ballot on July 14. The city’s Measure Q FAQ and the city attorney’s impartial analysis both say the tax is estimated to generate about $16 million a year.

Measure Q would be a general tax. Proceeds would go to the General Fund and could be used for any lawful city purpose, according to the proposed ordinance and the impartial analysis. The tax would last until ended by voters. The city says groceries, prescription medicine, diapers, and feminine hygiene products are exempt. The city also says the money would stay in Hemet, with public disclosure, independent citizens’ oversight, and audits.

Hemet’s current sales tax rate is 8.75 percent, the city’s FAQ states. Measure Q would add 1 cent on each dollar of taxable purchases.

The city has scheduled three Measure Q open houses at the Hemet Public Library, 300 E. Latham Ave.: Sept. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon, and Oct. 16 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The adopted operating budget does not include Measure Q revenue. The November vote is a separate question from the books the council already adopted for this fiscal year.

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