Salinas finance committee reviews proposed FY 2025–26 budget, hears details on streets, staffing and parks

The Salinas Finance Committee on June 10 reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 operating and capital budget, receiving details on roughly $285 million in proposed spending, proposed capital investments in streets and sidewalks, and several staff additions and reclassifications across departments. The committee approved the consent agenda at the start of the meeting.

Finance Director Selena Andrews told the committee, “The proposed city budget increased to approximately 285,000,000, with the additional operating and capital investments that we'll go over today and are also identified in the staff report.” Andrews said the presentation reflected direction from council strategic goals adopted in May and that staff will return to present the formal proposed budget on June 17.

Why this matters: the update lays out where the city is proposing to direct one-time and ongoing dollars for infrastructure, code enforcement, public safety and parks. Several council members pressed staff for clearer, communicable metrics—such as lane miles or percent more pavement—before the proposed budget is finalized.

Capital projects and operating changes Staff described $8 million in additional capital improvement program (CIP) investments that will be incorporated into the proposed budget. Those specific recommendations include: - Sidewalks and street repairs: an additional $2,000,000 for a total of about $11,300,000 for the program. - Traffic calming: an increase of $300,000 for a total of $500,000. - Buranda Road congestion relief project: an added $2,000,000 for a total of $2,900,000; the funds are intended to start design for Phase 2A east of McKinnon Avenue. - Abbott Street: a new project recommendation of $4,000,000 to advance design and construction work as part of the city’s pavement program.

Public Works Director (staff) said of the Buranda Road funding, “This $2,000,000 allows us to actually start the design phase of the project.” The director also cautioned that exact scope and how far $4,000,000 will carry on Abbott Street cannot be known until designs and condition assessments are completed.

Staffing, add/deletes and code enforcement Andrews described a mix of new positions and “add/delete” changes (reclassifications or swaps that remove one position to add another). New or newly unfrozen positions cited in the proposed budget included a deputy fire marshal, a management analyst, an administrative analyst, community outreach specialists, and changes to planning staff (including converting a half-time senior planner to full-time and adding an associate planner and plan checker positions).

On code enforcement, staff said the operating budget includes a $50,000 increase (to a total of $335,000) for non‑salary expenses, plus $35,000 of overtime and $300,000 for outside contract services to provide evening and weekend coverage; staff said the city is using a contract firm (identified in the presentation as Buildan) while recruiting to fill two vacant code enforcement officer positions.

Public safety and equipment lead times Police and fire leaders outlined capacity and timing constraints. Police Chief Acosta said the budget figures include an authorized headcount of 157 for sworn officers (161 authorized with four frozen positions); at the time of the meeting the department reported 133 sworn personnel on duty, 11 recruits in the police academy and 13 vacancies.

Acosta described two civilian positions the department has discussed for future consideration—a personnel and training civilian role and a communications specialist—to free sworn staff for patrol and operational duties. On technology, Acosta said, “Technology is obviously a really important integral piece of policing,” noting cameras and other tools can act as force multipliers.

A fire chief who spoke during the meeting said planned apparatus replacements face extended lead times and cost uncertainty; staff described multi‑year delivery windows of up to four to five years for ladder trucks and other fire apparatus, and noted the budget and future financing options will be presented to council after the break.

Parks, maintenance and community requests Parks staff reported about $93,000 of additional park maintenance funding in the proposed budget, explained as a mix of supplies and an expanded mowing/landscaping contract to bring on Ensign. Staff said ongoing park staffing is below national standards on acres per full‑time equivalent and that the city will need additional resources as new parks come online (Hebron, Closter and other projects were discussed). Staff also said smaller bench and table repairs are being planned proactively rather than handled as individual requests.

Fiscal posture and next steps Andrews said the proposed budget shows an estimated, unrestricted operating fund balance of about $2,800,000 in addition to an operating reserve of approximately $12,000,000; she noted that year‑end closeout could change the estimate. Staff will present the formal proposed budget to council on June 17; the committee chair said the council will take a vote on the budget next Tuesday and will revisit some budget items again on July 1.

Votes at a glance: The committee approved the consent agenda. Committee Chair Abe moved to approve the consent agenda; Council Member de Arrigo voted yes and Mayor Donahue voted yes. The motion passed.

The presentation and discussion covered projected capital investments, planned staff additions and recruiting challenges, park maintenance needs, and equipment financing issues tied to long delivery lead times for major apparatus. Staff said more detailed project scopes and design work will determine final project extents and costs before construction contracts are let.