For City Council Meeting September 22, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tanya Williams, City Manager
AUTHOR: Mark P. Kling, Chief of Police
Title
Request City Council to: (1) Approve the California Office of Traffic Safety Selective Traffic Enforcement Program Grant Agreement No. PT27140 in the Amount of $365,000; (2) Adopt Resolution No. 8577 Amending the 2026-27 Fiscal Year Budget; and (3) Authorize the City Manager or Their Designee to Execute All Related Documents.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Approve the California Office of Traffic Safety Selective Traffic Enforcement Program Grant Agreement No. PT27140 in the amount of $365,000;
2) Adopt Resolution amending the 2026-27 Fiscal Year Budget; and
3) Authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute all related documents.
BACKGROUND
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has awarded the City of Rialto Police Department $365,000 through the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) Grant, Grant Agreement No. PT27140, for the grant period of October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027.
For the past several years, the City has pursued and been awarded grants from OTS to augment its traffic safety efforts. The STEP Grant provides supplemental resources for enforcement, traffic safety education, specialized training, and community engagement. The 2026-27 grant will allow the Police Department to continue data-driven strategies intended to reduce fatal and injury traffic crashes involving impaired driving and other primary crash factors.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
Traffic crashes involving alcohol impairment and other primary crash factors remain a significant public safety concern in Rialto. The grant agreement cites OTS 2023 crash rankings showing 97 alcohol-involved crash victims in Rialto, ranking 3rd out of 62 Group B cities, and 468 total fatal and injury victims, ranking 24th out of 62 Group B cities. These conditions support continued high-visibility enforcement, education, training, and public awareness efforts.
The STEP Grant allocates funding to address traffic-related concerns through the following enforcement, education, training, and support activities:
• DUI/Driver License Checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols
• Traffic Enforcement operations focusing on primary crash factors
• Distracted Driving Enforcement
• Motorcycle Safety Enforcement
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Enforcement
• Street Racing and Sideshow Enforcement
• Collaborative DUI and Traffic Enforcement operations
• Know Your Limit campaigns, traffic safety educational presentations, and community engagement activities
• Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Instructor, and DUI Checkpoint Planning and Management training
• Phlebotomy services, approved in-state travel, DUI checkpoint supplies, and two portable light towers
Grant objectives include eight DUI/Driver License checkpoints, 27 DUI saturation patrols, 12 traffic enforcement operations, 22 distracted driving enforcement operations, four motorcycle safety operations, four pedestrian and bicycle operations, and additional collaborative enforcement, education, training, and community engagement activities. If accepted, eligible grant-related costs incurred during the grant operational period will be reimbursed in accordance with the OTS Grant Agreement and applicable grant requirements.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposal is not a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to Section 15378(a), a “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to Section 15378(b), a Project does not include: (5) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
The City of Rialto’s General Plan has outlined guiding principles and goals relating to public safety. This action is consistent with the City of Rialto’s General Plan Guiding Principle 1, “Rialto is a Family First Community.”
Our neighborhoods will be a safe place to call home.
Approval of this action is also consistent with the City of Rialto General Plan Goal and Policies:
Goal 5-8: Provide effective and comprehensive policing services that meet the safety needs of Rialto.
Policy 5-8.4: Initiate proactive crime suppression and prevention strategies throughout the community.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Operating Budget Impact
OTS has awarded the City of Rialto Police Department $365,000 for the 2026-2027 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program. Accepting the grant will increase revenues in the amount of $365,000 in the California Office of Traffic Safety Grant Revenue Account No. 22216995-47551-27STP-08. The additional revenue will offset increased expenditures of the same amount appropriated in the amount of $337,156 in Account No. 22216995-51020-27STP-10, $4,955 in Account No. 22216995-51050-27STP-50, $18,037 in Account No. 22216995-52021-27STP-42, and $4,852 in Account No. 22216995-52022-27STP-12 for grant expenditures such as overtime, benefits, travel, services, and supplies utilized by this grant.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
There is no impact on the Capital Improvement Budget.
Licensing
This action does not require a business license.
ATTACHMENTS
1) California Office of Traffic Safety Selective Traffic Enforcement Program Grant Agreement No. PT27140
2) Budget Resolution