Irvine leaders decided this week to suspend the annual CicloIrvine event until the city resolves its budget woes.
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In May 2024 the city launched CicloIrvine, Irvine’s first open streets events meant to promote sustainability. For the third annual event in May, thousands of people walked, ran, pedaled and skated along a 1.3-mile stretch of car-free roadway while accompanied by live music and performances.
But the Irvine City Council decided this week to immediately suspend CicloIrvine until “the city achieves a structurally balanced general fund budget and the City Council votes to reinstate the event.”
CicloIrvine is “a big event that is near and dear to a number of us,” Mayor Larry Agran said. “But you need to, at some point, make hard decisions.”
Councilmember William Go cast the sole opposed vote, saying he’d want flexibility to explore other options for event cuts.
The City Council, for more than six months, has stewed over how to handle a $6 million budget deficit — roughly a 2% spending overage — that’s projected to grow to $47 million if left unchecked. City staffers have called the deficit a paltry sum when considering Irvine’s reserves.
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Moves made to address the shortfall include imposing a 2.4% fee on card payments for city services, charging for parking at the Great Park and launching an audit on city spending.
The council recently considered and passed on a suggestion to eliminate funding for mayor and City Council assistants’ salaries and benefits “to the maximum extent legally permissible” and is in the midst of implementing a “Target ’28 plan” that aims to achieve a structurally balanced general fund in two years.
The plan outlines paths for $27 million in less spending — including $17 million in payroll savings and $10 million in other reductions — and $10 million in revenue increases stemming from the already-approved credit card fee hikes, $5 million in fee increases yet-to-be proposed and $3 million from “other revenues such as agreements, leases, and sponsorships.”
CicloIrvine is the city’s second-most expensive event — it cost $630,309 to throw this year — behind the Irvine Global Village Festival, which took place Oct. 10 and cost $901,309 to run, according to a staff report.
“If we suspended CicloIrvine, it sends a signal to the community that these cost-reduction measures, we recognize them and we’re willing to signal to the community we’re prepared to take some sort of immediate action,” Agran said. “That tells the community we’re going to succeed in these budget balancing measures and taking on the challenges of structural imbalance that need to be corrected.”
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