City staff told the Bakersfield City Council on April 23 that a sales‑tax remittance issue requires an estimated $6.5 million downward adjustment to the city's current fiscal baseline and presented a set of midyear budget actions to preserve fiscal balance.

City Manager Christian Clegg said sales‑tax remittance errors — where some tax receipts were identified as county, not city, revenues — reduced the current‑year revenue projection by about $6.5 million and require budget adjustments. Finance Director Randy McKegan said the Public Safety Vital Services (PSVS) revenue baseline will be reset to approximately $97 million for planning purposes.

To offset the reduction, staff proposed a package of measures: delaying or deferring several capital projects (including one Caltrans partnership project), recapturing roughly $700,000 from unspent park design and other items, and freezing 18 vacant positions through June. Clegg said discretionary programs funded through PSVS that have not shown outcomes may face significant reductions in the coming budget cycle.

McKegan summarized the revenue picture and recommended conservative estimates for the coming fiscal year: holding Bradley‑Burns sales tax and PSVS receipts largely flat while recognizing that transient occupancy tax (hotel tax) has returned to higher levels and will provide some general‑fund support. He also said the city will increase transfers into the general fund from TOT and PSVS in the recommended budget proposals to bridge gaps while staff pursues longer‑term adjustments.

Council members asked for more detail on which positions were frozen and how grant match reductions would affect capital projects. Clegg said the frozen positions are vacant roles and do not include sworn police or firefighter vacancies; more than half are street‑level operational positions, with some supervisory and internal support posts. He said the city still retains more than $2 million in a grant‑match fund and will reexamine the capital improvement program to prioritize projects.

Council member Gonzales urged staff to pursue multi‑year revenue projections and to develop plans to increase locally generated revenues, including transient‑occupancy tax and other economic development strategies. Council member Beshear Tash objected to using PSVS resources to shore up general‑fund operations and urged the council to tighten spending instead.

The council voted unanimously to receive and file the midyear budget review as staff develops the recommended budget and returns to council during the budget workshops.