San Ramon finance staff presents FY26 General Fund baseline: $71.5 million projected, 4% potential savings factor proposed

Finance staff laid out a fiscal year 2026 General Fund baseline Thursday, saying projected expenditures total about $71,500,000 and that the draft budget is intended to be a status-quo starting point while the city builds a multiyear plan.

Jennifer Wakeman, finance staff member and presenter, told the council the FY26 General Fund projection represents about a 10% increase from the FY25 midyear budget and asked councilmembers what additional details they want for the May 13 budget hearing. “At this point, our fiscal year 26 General Fund projected expenditures are $71,500,000,” Wakeman said during the workshop.

Wakeman said the presentation separates expenditure adjustments into three categories: nondiscretionary costs (items the city must pay because of contracts, benefits or service obligations), discretionary costs (optional program enhancements or equipment), and a proposed potential savings factor intended to reduce the historical gap between budgeted and actual expenditures. The department-level breakdown places the largest shares with Police Services, Public Works, and Parks and Community Services.

Why it matters: the three-category framework is intended to make clearer which expenditures the council can influence through policy and which are built-in obligations. Wakeman said the potential savings factor is a conservative estimate—roughly 4% or about $2.2 million—derived from analyzing salary-and-benefit assumptions that count every position as staffed for a full year even though vacancies occur.

Details and supporting context - Police Services: Wakeman said Police Services comprises about $23,200,000 of the FY26 General Fund proposed expenditures, or roughly 32% of the total. That figure is a 12% increase from FY25 midyear; she reported $2.9 million of that increase as nondiscretionary and $426,000 as discretionary, with a potential-savings offset of about $778,000. The discretionary request includes two Police Services Technician II positions and a Records Supervisor position; Wakeman said those three positions are split with the Dougherty Valley Fund and that equipment and supplies for the new positions are included in the request. - Public Works: Projected at about $19,300,000 for FY26, Public Works is roughly a 3% increase from FY25 midyear. Wakeman identified approximately $1.1 million in nondiscretionary increases, $62,000 in discretionary costs and about $525,000 attributed to potential savings. - Parks and Community Services: Projected at $10,400,000, a cited 16% increase from FY25 midyear. Wakeman said roughly $1.7 million of that is nondiscretionary, $9,000 discretionary and $342,000 in potential savings; discretionary requests include restoration of “dive-in” movies and modest supply and contract increases.

Wakeman explained that much of the apparent growth for police and parks compared with the FY25 midyear budget stems not from new operations but from an accounting change: pension costs that had been offset through a PARS trust transfer in FY25 were removed from the General Fund and are being reintegrated in FY26, which inflates the year-over-year percentage change for some departments.

Council engagement and next steps Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about how the potential savings factor was calculated, whether the discretionary requests were time-limited, and how accounting treatments altered department-level variances. Wakeman asked councilmembers to identify specific details they want added to the May 13 presentation so staff can provide more granular tables and scenario analyses.

No formal action was taken at the workshop; staff said the May 13 council meeting will include a fuller numerical budget document and the council will have an opportunity to provide direction before budget adoption.