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Corte Madera council adopts biannual budget, raises reserves and boosts parks and wildfire allocations
Summary
The Town Council approved the biannual town budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, increasing the council discretionary fund, growing reserves, and setting transfers to capital funds; staff said conservative revenue assumptions reflect retail uncertainty.
The Corte Madera Town Council on July 1 adopted the town's biannual operating and capital budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, approving staff's conservative revenue assumptions and several changes recommended after a first reading June 17.
Why it matters: the adopted budget sets operating and capital spending for the town and affects reserves, capital projects, parks and recreation programming, and major infrastructure work. Adopting this two-year plan frames the town's priorities and transfers between funds for the coming biennium.
Key decisions and numbers: staff said the council increased the discretionary fund to $70,000 and raised the wildfire mitigation allocation to $300,000 in the sales-tax override fund. The budget calls for a $1 million transfer from the general fund to the Town Capital Project Fund in each of the next two years and a $500,000 annual transfer to the Capital Equipment and Technology Fund. Staff said the town intends to increase its general-fund reserves from 20% to 25%, raising the reserve to more than $6 million over the planning horizon.
Parks and recreation: staff and the parks director refined the recreation fund and projected that the recreation fund would show a surplus in 2025-26 and a slight deficit in 2026-27, while overall fund balance remains positive. Staff explained a deferred-revenue accounting item of about $450,000 that reflects registrations and facility rentals paid before June 30 for programs or rentals that occur after the fiscal year end. The council directed staff to monitor parks and recreation fund balances and consider reallocating excess fund balance (if any) for capital improvements or programming.
Public safety and employee costs: staff said employee-related costs make up about 75% of general-fund expenditures and highlighted previously negotiated police and fire memorandums of understanding; those public-safety costs were presented as the largest single budget items. The budget assumes conservative revenue projections on the sales-tax side given retail-sector uncertainty.
Sanitary District:Number 2 and related plans: the town's manager and finance team also integrated Sanitary District No. 2 proposed biannual operating and capital budgets into the packet; the council approved the district's budget by separate resolution later in the meeting (see separate article).
Council comments and follow-up: council members asked staff to report back at midyear on parks-and-rec reserve levels and on ambulance-fee passthrough accounting for Central Marin fire services. One council member requested staff revisit whether ambulance-bill passthrough should be shown below the revenue line because the town treats it as a pass-through rather than discretionary revenue.
Decision: by unanimous roll-call vote the council adopted Resolution No. 31-2025 approving the town biannual budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27. Staff said they will continue to refine program-level estimates and return with midyear adjustments as necessary.
Limits: figures and projections in this article reflect the staff presentation and council actions at the July 1 meeting; cost and revenue outcomes will depend on future economic conditions and final program-level decisions.
