The Santa Paula City Council on June 30 adopted a two-year budget for fiscal years 2025–26 and 2026–27 and approved an amendment to the city's position-control list, the council said, while staff warned of projected deficits in later years.

Council members voted to adopt the budget and separately adopted Resolution 7,578 to add a senior administrative analyst classification and an administrative analyst series job description to the position-control list.

The budget presentation laid out changes staff made since the last workshops, additions to the adopted document and outstanding corrections. Finance Director Lorena Ramirez told the council the adopted document includes a transmittal letter, a fiscal forecast and a budget adoption resolution; it also preserves the existing salary schedule while attaching an appendix (Appendix C) that shows the salary rates used in budget calculations pending conclusion of labor negotiations. "We don't want to put the cart before the horse," Ramirez said about publishing anticipated labor rates before negotiations are finished.

The city manager and department directors described a series of funding adjustments tied to recent revenue changes, including added property-tax receipts related to RDA dissolution. Staff said they increased the property-tax revenue projection by roughly $400,000, from about $1.2 million to about $1.6 million, based on work with consultants at HDL. The budget also reflects Measure R and Measure T funds and several internal program funding shifts.

Ramirez and other staff flagged a funding gap for park maintenance related to Community Facilities District (CFD) responsibilities. Staff estimated CFD Area 2 will generate about $80,000 for maintenance but said the park maintenance need is about $200,000, leaving a gap staff described as roughly $120,000 absent any other changes; staff cautioned that further creek-related maintenance could increase the shortfall. Ramirez said staff will return with options for addressing the gap and asked the council to expect additional follow-up in the first quarter.

Council members and staff repeatedly raised the long-term fiscal forecast as the most urgent problem. Ramirez said the forecast projects shortfalls beginning in year three of the five-year outlook and that the adopted budget relies in part on one-time revenues tied to development activity that may not recur. "If we have a year or two where that one-time revenue doesn't occur, the nexus between revenues and expenses would increase significantly," Ramirez said.

The council added language to the budget that authorizes the city manager, when operationally necessary, to temporarily "overfill" positions to avoid service gaps. That authority is limited to hiring at no more than 10% above the listed hourly rate for a position (Ramirez used a hypothetical: a $20/hr position could be filled at up to $22/hr under the 10% guideline). Ramirez said the policy mirrors prior limited authorizations used for sworn police positions but would be made more generally available with safeguards.

Council members also requested additional follow-up items and clarifications that staff said they will return with, including printed, tabbed budget packets, finalized fund balances (scheduled to return on Aug. 6), an investment policy adoption, and detailed capital improvement program cleanups. Ramirez said some items remain pending, such as confirmation of water replenishment charges and certain fleet overhead charges, and that staff will bring those items back early in the fiscal year.

Councilmembers expressed unanimous support for adoption while stressing urgency about economic development and revenue generation. "We are making substantial investments ... but unless we find additional revenue sources, we're not going to be able to sustain our operations," Mayor Chavez said during final remarks, urging regular benchmarks on economic development progress.

Minor edits and cleanup noted in the meeting include clarifying the wording of the transmittal letter, confirming program allocations, and adding narrative language requested by council for police reserves and other department goals. Ramirez said the city will return with corrected fund-balance figures and any transfers needed to establish a replacement/repair fund for certain public-works charges.

The council voted to adopt the budget and the related position-control resolution during the special meeting; staff said year-end and first-quarter amendments are expected as the new fiscal year begins.