Escondido outlines preliminary FY 2026 budget, earmarks Measure I revenue for public safety, infrastructure and staffing

City of Escondido staff on May 20 presented a preliminary fiscal year 2026 operating budget and recommended allocations for Measure I, the voter-approved 1-cent local sales tax, saying the plan would restore positions, replace vehicles and apparatus, and fund deferred maintenance while leaving final adoption to council votes in June.

The presentation, led by Christina Holmes, the city’s finance director, said Measure I — a general tax that raised Escondido’s sales tax rate from 7.75% to 8.75% effective April 1, 2025 — is projected in staff’s preliminary forecast to produce $38,484,150 in the first year (the figure is the average of two consultant models cited in the presentation). Staff recommended a Measure I operating budget of $29,644,300, leaving an initial unallocated balance of $8,839,850; staff also proposed allocating $2,000,000 of Measure I revenue to the City Streets program and returning to council with more refined revenue data after the first full quarter of receipts in July 2025.

Measure I and why it matters

Holmes told the council that Measure I is a general tax and therefore not legally restricted to specific programs; staff used the ballot language only as a guideline when preparing the initial spending plan. The presentation noted typical uncertainties in forecasting sales tax — including volatility in auto sales, which are a major source of Escondido’s tax revenue — and described two consultant capture-rate scenarios: HDL projected about $35 million (a 77% capture rate) while Avenue Insights projected about $41 million (92% capture). Staff recommended budgeting the midpoint of those forecasts, $38,484,150, and promised a report after the first quarter of actual distributions, which the city expects to receive beginning July 2025.

Holmes said the Measure I revenue was modeled on the city’s existing sales tax base and reminded the council that, under the city’s preliminary breakdown, of each…