Santa Rosa staff proposes city-manager advisory committee and hires revenue consultant RFP to inform potential tax measures

Santa Rosa finance staff on Tuesday outlined plans to create a city-manager–directed budget deficit advisory committee and said the city has issued a request for proposals to hire a revenue consultant to advise on potential measures, polling and outreach.

In a presentation to the subcommittee, Alan Alders, chief financial officer for Santa Rosa City, described a working group “to correct [the] city’s general fund structural deficit and create long term fiscal sustainability,” and said the group would be formed by the city manager and likely limited to about 10 members with representation from labor, the community and finance staff.

Alders said the group would examine both expenditures — including labor costs, pension obligations, FTE growth and departmental program changes — and revenues. “The biggest source of general fund revenue is sales tax,” he said, and noted that a half-cent general sales tax currently in place expires in 2031. Alders told the subcommittee that expiration would “represent about a $25,000,000 hole in our general fund should that expire.”

The committee would be “city manager directed” and not a Brown Act open meeting, Alders said, and the city plans to use an application process to choose community members. He estimated the group would work quickly — roughly a year to year-and-a-half — and that the city manager would decide when the group formally begins; staff suggested July as a likely start month.

On a related item, Alders said the city opened a formal RFP to hire a revenue consultant; the RFP was posted May 1 and closed the day before the meeting, he said. The consultant would advise on strategy, measure language, outreach and polling so staff and the council could better assess options such as sales tax increases, parcel taxes, changes to the Utility Users Tax (UUT) ordinance or fee-for-service adjustments.

Alders described the RFP as a non-budgeted item that would require a future appropriation if the council approves a contract. He said the consultant would provide professional analysis and rapid support so the city manager and staff can respond quickly if and when the council asks to explore a particular revenue measure.

Council members and staff emphasized community engagement and education as central to any process. One council member urged that community voices — including residents who do not typically attend city meetings — be “front and center” in the advisory group and that the city use town halls, district briefings and other outreach to explain the budget trade-offs. Several members said any consultant’s deliverables must include well-justified comparable cities and credible polling or engagement strategies before the council would consider placing a measure before voters.

Public comment at the meeting tied some budget concerns to local priorities, including a request to explore siting a senior center in Rincon Valley; a speaker said she wanted clearer information so residents could understand options during budget discussions.

No formal council vote on creating the advisory group or hiring a consultant occurred at the meeting; the minutes of the prior meeting were approved as submitted. Staff said they will return with additional details about committee membership, the application process and a proposed timeline. The subcommittee set its next regular meeting for July 10 to receive more complete budget materials and updates.