South El Monte's City Council voted 4-1 on Thursday to continue consideration of the fiscal-year budget to its July 1 meeting after a night of public comment and a detailed staff presentation showing multi-year deficits and proposed cost-cutting measures.

The council meeting drew more than a dozen public speakers, many urging the city to spare current employees from layoffs. “We need to really look at the other side of the ledger — the trips and the gifts we give out and wasteful spending that takes place before we start firing any employees,” resident John Ventura told the council. Denise Silva, another resident, urged the council to consider cutting discretionary events such as the night markets before cutting jobs: “I'd rather save somebody's job and put food on the table for those families,” she said.

The nut graf: City staff presented a revised budget book that incorporates five major cost-cutting options the council directed at prior study sessions — reductions to conference travel, an RFP for IT services, a medical-insurance opt-out program, a proposal to outsource part of the Public Safety Officer (PSO) function, and leaving one vacant code-enforcement post unfilled. Finance Director Masami Higa told the council that, after adding those measures, the General Fund would move from a current-year deficit to a projected surplus of about $100,570, but multiyear forecasts still show growing deficits unless structural changes or new revenue occur.

Staff and council members repeatedly referenced forecasts showing the city's standing reserves and future risk. Masami Higa, finance director, said the city's reserves are about $18 million and explained the five-year projections: “For fiscal 2026-27, the deficit is now $672,000 roughly. For 2027-28, roughly $1,400,000; for 2028-29, roughly $2,300,000; and for 2029-30, roughly $3,000,000,” he said. Council members said dipping deeply into reserves would reduce the city's ability to respond if revenues continue to decline.

The proposed public-safety change was the most contested item. The staff recommendation modeled replacing the current seven-person PSO/code-enforcement package (presented in the budget at about $634,950) with a vendor-provided team composed of two full-time and two part-time workers. Staff told the council the contracted alternative could save approximately $174,000 annually; staff also reported a separate vacant code-enforcement position with an estimated salary-and-benefits cost of about $131,500 if left unfilled.

Joe Martinez, public safety supervisor for the City of South El Monte, said the PSO team performs many day-to-day duties beyond issuing citations — traffic and crowd control, school-crossing support, vehicle recovery that generates tow-fee revenue, and liaison work with the sheriff's department. “It's really sad and it's unfortunate…we're the first ones to go,” Martinez said, urging the council to weigh the community service value and revenue PSOs generate. Staff noted that $157,000 in parking and tow fees was collected last year, an amount they cautioned cannot be fully counted as recurring General Fund revenue until paid and posted.

Councilmembers discussed other cost reductions the council has already approved to be included in the budget book: halving travel and conference budgets across departments (about $75,000), issuing an RFP to control rising IT costs, and pursuing an employee medical opt-out program that could reduce net employer costs if employees prove alternate coverage. The opt-out amount currently in local memoranda of understanding was described as $100 per month for union employees and higher for executives; staff said neighboring cities sometimes pay a larger opt-out share, and any savings depend on how many employees provide alternate insurance proof.

Multiple residents and the city’s Community Services Commissioner, Octencia Vasquez, urged council members to “take care of our own” and explore cuts to discretionary events rather than eliminating positions. Several speakers asked for more transparency on travel, contract and audit details and encouraged residents to attend the July 1 meeting when the council will revisit the budget.

After discussion, Councilmember Larry Rodriguez moved to continue the item to the July 1 meeting; Mayor Gloria Ramos seconded. The motion carried 4-1 (Costa, Rodriguez, Delgado, Ramos voting yes; Horkas voting no). The council recorded no final budget adoption at the special meeting and directed staff to return with any clarifications and supporting documentation at the July 1 session.

The meeting concluded with the council entering closed session; staff later reported “no reportable action” from the closed-session item on anticipated litigation. The council did not adopt any ordinance or resolution at the June 26 meeting related to the fiscal-year budget.

Ending: The council's July 1 meeting will include the budget again; staff materials in the agenda packet identify Exhibit A1 as the summary of the changes incorporated so far and list the five cost-saving measures the council asked staff to model. Public commenters were invited back to the July 1 session to continue the discussion.