Placerville council directs staff to return 2025–26 budget after hearing on shortfall, program cuts

The Placerville City Council on June 10 directed staff to return the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 operating and capital improvement program budget for formal adoption at its June 24 meeting after a staff presentation and public hearing that laid out a general-fund shortfall and proposed program reductions.

City Finance Director Dave Warren told the council the city’s Bradley-Burns sales tax — the single largest source of general‑fund revenue — is forecast at $6,249,799 for 2025–26, but receipts for the current year are running below budget. "We began the budget with a million 29,000 deficit or 8.57%," Warren said, summarizing the gap staff is working to close.

Warren and other staff presented a range of adjustments to bring the budget into balance. Key proposals included a one-time transfer of $321,000 from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA, commonly called SB 1) to support routine road maintenance; a proposed increase to the city master fee schedule (shown as $168,000 in preliminary estimates, pending separate council action); and $1,056,000 in additional budget adjustments overall. Staff also recommended no general-fund contributions to…