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San Bernardino council continues public hearing on proposed FY 2025–26 budget; staff outlines capital projects and policy changes
Summary
City staff presented the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget and capital plan, describing revenue, proposed capital projects, an updated investment policy tied to AB 2016 and a request to create an operations department. Council voted to continue the public hearing for further public comment and review.
The San Bernardino City Council continued its public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget after staff presented revenue and expenditure estimates and identified capital projects and policy changes.
City staff said the proposed revenue estimate is roughly 89,000,311 (as reported in the presentation) and described proposed capital project spending and special-fund needs. A staff presenter explained the capital improvement program proposal includes roughly $29.58 million in proposed projects, with $8.4 million in special funds requested for FY 2025–26 and additional amounts for existing projects. The staff presentation called for the council to adopt the budget, approve appropriation limits, adopt an updated investment policy and approve a new operations and maintenance department.
Why it matters: the budget contains capital and operational priorities that affect streets, parks, public safety fleet planning and department staffing. Staff emphasized the budget's role in maintaining fiscal flexibility and meeting state statutory requirements for appropriation limits.
During the presentation staff noted that the city must set an appropriation limit calculated under state rules (the presentation cited Proposition 4 and Proposition 111) and described a proposed investment policy change reflecting AB 2016, which increases allowable investment limits for some funds from 30% to 50% under certain conditions. Staff also described a recommended salary schedule update required by CalPERS reporting rules.
Council and public discussion focused on whether the council should continue the public hearing to allow more public input. Multiple councilmembers and members of the public urged more time for review and public comment. At least one councilmember requested a separate, smaller workshop to go department-by-department on the budget.
Action taken: council moved to continue the public hearing on the budget to a later date for additional public input and review. The motion to continue the public hearing was made on the record during the meeting; the transcript records supporting remarks and a call for votes. The record does not include a detailed roll-call tally in the excerpt provided.
Details and clarifications reported in the meeting: - Staff presented proposed totals described in the slide deck as roughly 89,000,311 in revenues and cited projected totals for expenditures and capital outlays in their slides (figures reported from presentation slides; attendees asked that the full slide deck be made public). - The proposed capital improvement program included roughly $29.58 million in proposed projects (staff slide). Staff also reported $8.4 million requested from special funds for FY 2025–26 and referenced multi-year planning through FY 2029–30 for some programs. - Staff recommended adopting an updated investment policy (cited AB 2016 changes) and updating the salary schedule to comply with CalPERS and internal transparency policies.
Ending note: Council left the record open by continuing the public hearing. Staff directed the public to the online budget link the presentation cited for line-by-line detail. The council and staff said they will return with additional public input and any requested clarifications before final action.
