Pier to Pier — Issue No. 8

The one thing. What you pay to park downtown and what your neighbors can build both land on one agenda Monday. Manhattan Beach’s council holds a public hearing July 7 on higher hourly parking rates — on-street, city lots, and beach lots — plus stiffer citation fines (four resolutions, no dollar figures in the agenda yet). The same night: the final vote on the Housing Element ordinance, the code rewrite resetting ADU, manufactured-housing and supportive-housing rules to state law, introduced 4-1 on June 16. To weigh in on either, eComment at manhattanbeach.granicusideas.com before noon July 7 — about 2 minutes. Our plain-English preview →

Your money. If you max a workplace retirement plan, the 2026 numbers are set: the 401(k) deferral limit rises to $24,500, and a SECURE 2.0 “super catch-up” lets savers aged 60 to 63 add $11,250 (versus the standard $8,000 catch-up at 50-plus). For a high earner in that window, that’s a bigger pre-tax shelter than the year before. Confirm your plan actually adopted the super catch-up before counting on it — not all have. The IRS limits →

One more, for the July 4 crowd. Federal funding of the $1,000 “Trump Account” seed — a one-time government contribution for U.S.-citizen kids born 2025 through 2028 — is slated to begin tomorrow, July 4. The IRS just added a gift-tax safe harbor (Rev. Proc. 2026-25) so relatives who chip in don’t trip gift-reporting rules, if they meet the stated conditions. Funding one for a kid or grandkid? Your CPA or estate attorney can confirm it qualifies. The IRS release →

Schools. The quiet machine behind MBUSD class sizes just showed its hand: the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation granted $7 million to district schools for 2025-26, with $3.24M (46%) going straight to class-size reduction — $1.37M at Mira Costa alone. It’s the donation-funded backstop against deficit-driven staffing cuts. The catch: MBEF’s annual appeal sits at $5.2M of a $6.8M goal, a $1.6M gap heading into fall. MBEF’s grant breakdown →

The pulse. Big beach weekend ahead — so the useful thing first: know how to spot and swim out of a rip current before you wade in. The National Weather Service had a moderate rip risk up for LA County into the holiday, on a 2-to-4-foot south swell and low-to-upper-60s water. Joint Beach Cities sampling posted no advisory for MB or Hermosa as of July 1; the nearest county warning is Redondo Pier. Real-time water status: 1-800-525-5662.

This week.
• Sat 7/4: 4th of July Pool Party, 10 AM–2 PM, Manhattan Beach aquatics center (MB) — City Hall is closed today, July 3, for the holiday — City calendar
• Sun 7/5: Concerts in the Park opens with The Satin Dollz, 5–7 PM, Polliwog Park (MB) — a genuinely good free Sunday with the kids — City calendar
• Tue–Sat 7/7–7/11: JVA/BVCA National Beach Volleyball Championships on the sand (HB) — expect parking and beach-access congestion — City calendar
• Sat–Sun 7/11–7/12: 63rd Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix (MB) — downtown street and parking closures start 6 AM July 11 — City calendar

One question. New this week: those proposed MB parking-rate and citation hikes. If you park downtown or at the beach — resident, shop owner, or regular — would higher meters actually change how often you come down, or is it just the cost of a summer Saturday? Hit reply; we read every one.

— Written and edited by Jamie Marsh