Santa Rosa oversight committee approves FY 2025–26 Measure O (PSAP) budget; flags out‑year shortfalls

The Public Safety and Prevention Tax citizen oversight committee for the City of Santa Rosa approved the fiscal year 2025'26 Measure O (PSAP) budget and implementation plan at its May 1 meeting after hearing presentations from the fire department, police department and the city's violence prevention/parks and recreation staff. The committee also elected Member Holmes as vice chair and approved prior minutes from Oct. 30, 2024.

The budget vote funds personnel, equipment and capital projects funded by Measure O/PSAP, including continued support for a full engine company paid by PSAP, transport-capable advanced life‑support squads and community-based violence prevention programs. Staff identified a near-term financing step to cover a $3 million shortfall for Station 8 (Roseland) and warned the committee that a new street-outreach contract is expected to create out-year budget pressure unless additional revenues or adjustments are made.

The budget matters because Measure O/PSAP funds pay for frontline public-safety personnel and targeted prevention programs that the city and staff said contributed to reductions in violent crime and improved response times. Committee members pressed staff for more demographic program data and a clearer plan to address projected deficits in fiscal 2026'27.

Fire department presentation

Scott Westrop, Fire Chief, and Sarah Roberts, finance analyst, presented the Fire Department's PSAP proposal and a three-year forecast. Staff reported net changes in the proposed operating budget tied to negotiated salary increases (about $234,000 in salaries and $131,000 in benefits) and a $38,000 reduction in services and supplies that includes removing one-time explorer program funding allocated last year.

Chief Westrop and Roberts described capital plans for Station 8 (Roseland) and Station 11 (Lewis Road, in the junior college district). Roberts said the department is temporarily applying roughly $3 million of PSAP reserve funding to close a financing gap for Station 8 and expects that the Santa Rosa Fire Foundation's capital campaign, which the department said is seeking up to $5 million, will reimburse the PSAP reserves later. "The foundation's very confident they can they can raise that money," Roberts said.

The committee heard that PSAP currently funds, in part, an entire engine company (nine personnel: three captains, three engineers, three firefighters), training staff, paramedic incentives for ladder trucks, and 25% of the EMS division chief position. Chief Westrop listed recent equipment and vehicle purchases funded by PSAP, including 55 dual-band mobile radios, multiple fire engines (one Type 1 still on order), a Type 3 wildland engine, four command vehicles, a swift-water rescue trailer and two transport-capable ALS squads (one delivered).

Police department presentation

Santa Rosa Police Chief John Krieg and Administrative Services Officer Pam Lawrence presented a proposed PSAP police budget of about $5.3 million for FY 2025'26, with most spending in salaries and benefits and a services-and-supplies request of roughly $355,000 to fund items such as fleet cameras and vehicle maintenance. The police presentation said the downtown enforcement substation lease moved to a no-cost arrangement and the department added student interns funded through PSAP who have sometimes been hired into permanent roles.

Chief Krieg highlighted operational results attributed in part to PSAP-funded resources: a reported 80% reduction in homicides from 2023 to 2024 (from 10 to 2), a 52% drop in shootings, 390 illegal firearms seized and 24 so-called "ghost guns" (privately manufactured weapons). He and Lawrence told the committee the department was recently at full staffing, which staff said contributed to better priority‑1 response times.

Violence prevention, neighborhood services and partnerships

Jeff Tibbets, deputy director for recreation and the violence prevention branch, and Jackie Hammond (ASO) reviewed programs funded through neighborhood services and the Violence Prevention Partnership. Neighborhood services' proposed budget showed a modest increase (about $51,000) driven by anticipated salary changes; staff said PSAP funds support four permanent recreation staff and roughly 15,000 hours of temporary employees (equivalent to more than 7.5 full-time positions) who run after-school, summer and clinic-style sports and enrichment programming.

The Violence Prevention Partnership proposed budget rose by about $444,000; services-and-supplies increases (about $392,000) reflect the contracted street outreach and crisis response program with New Hope for Youth. Staff described multiple programs now operating or expanding under the city's strategic plan: clean-slate tattoo removal (near 20 participants in current cohorts), youth empowerment groups in middle schools, Choice grant cycle 12, safe-campus interventions and the newly activated street outreach/crisis-response work.

Staff warned the committee that the New Hope for Youth contract and other new investments are projected to drive a budget deficit in the fiscal 2026'27 forecast unless additional revenue or spending adjustments occur. Staff and committee members discussed sustainability and grant-seeking efforts to cover ongoing costs.

Questions and committee concerns

Committee members repeatedly asked for demographic tracking of program participants (race/ethnicity and geographic origin) and asked staff to include that reporting in future presentations. Neighborhood services and violence prevention staff said they are collecting that data and expect to include more of those metrics in an upcoming data presentation.

Members also asked about Steele Lane Community Center operations after a front-desk consolidation; staff clarified that front-desk hours have been condensed and many programs will continue or expand there, with front-desk services centralized at Findlay Community Center. Committee members pressed staff on the projected out-year deficits and asked that a statement of the committee's concern about long-range forecasts be included in the staff report to council; staff agreed to include such notes and to continue monitoring and adjusting budgets as revenues and expenditures evolve.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes (Oct. 30, 2024): approved as submitted (vote: yes 4; absent 2) (record: committee motioned and minutes approved with no edits). - Election of vice chair: Member Holmes nominated and accepted; committee voted to elect Holmes as vice chair (motion passed; recorded count: yes 4). - Measure O/PSAP FY 2025'26 budget and implementation plan: motion to approve brought forward, seconded and adopted by the committee (motion passed; recorded count: yes 4; absent 2). Staff will place a note of committee concern about out-year balances in the staff report to council.

What happens next

The committee approved only the FY 2025'26 budget to forward to council; staff emphasized that multi-year forecasts are projections and will be adjusted as revenues, encumbrances and vacancies change. Committee members asked staff to return in October with more demographic and program-participation data and for updates on the Station 8 capital campaign and New Hope for Youth program implementation.

Ending

The committee adjourned at 4:06 p.m. The next scheduled oversight committee meeting was set for October 2025.