San Bernardino presents balanced FY 2025–26 budget proposal, plans $29.6M in new CIP projects and 6-month hiring pause

City of San Bernardino staff presented a proposed, balanced fiscal year 2025–26 budget at a council workshop, outlining conservative revenue projections, a proposed six‑month targeted non‑safety hiring deferral to save roughly $8.1 million and a planned draw from capital improvement reserves to fund $29.6 million in new projects.

The proposal, presented by the City Manager’s office with Jeannie Fortune, Interim Director of Finance and Management Services, and Zuiva Ruiz, Budget Division Manager, projects a modest revenue increase of about 2.5 percent for 2025–26 and reflects a cautious approach to economic uncertainty. "This will be a first of at least one or two additional budget workshops... We are pleased to share with you a balanced budget projection for fiscal year 25, 26," the City Manager said during the presentation.

City staff emphasized that the revenue outlook is conservative. The budget presentation notes a projected $6 million of sustainable growth in revenues tied to reliable local trends, while some revenue categories—investment income, intergovernmental revenue and charges for services—are expected to decline. The city highlighted Measure S and local sales taxes as major revenue sources.

The administration proposed a targeted six‑month hiring deferral for non‑safety positions to achieve approximately $8.1 million in savings. Jeannie Fortune said departments identified roughly $10.7 million in operational adjustments, and the hiring deferral is intended as a pause to assess whether vacant positions remain necessary. "If revenue strengthens, we'll return to council to say if we could lift that hiring deferral or if it continues to decrease, then we're going to request to extend that," Fortune said.

Staff also proposed using designated CIP reserves—approximately $23.7 million—to fund capital projects while maintaining an estimated reserve level of about 75 percent of revenues even after the drawdown, above the municipal code minimum of 25 percent and the Government Finance Officers Association suggested 17 percent.

Public Works detailed the proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for 2025–26, identifying 42 proposed projects with total proposed project funding needs of $29.58 million (roughly $13.3 million from Measure S and $16.5 million from special funds including development impact fees, Measure I and RMRA/SB1). Public Works reported existing CIP program funding of about $162.9 million and called out roughly $16.4 million needed to complete ongoing projects.

Highlighted CIP projects include: renovation of the California Theatre (closure June 2, reopening targeted Sept. 30), animal shelter modular buildings (bids opening next week; award planned May 21), Spiker Park East skate park (construction completed), Nicholson Park improvements (construction under way, expected summer 2025), Second Lake Park (construction ~spring 2026), Mount Vernon bridge replacement (substantial completion targeted Aug. 23), and the University Parkway Diamond Diverging Interchange (DDI) project with staged traffic changes underway. Staff also proposed a street pavement management program with an initial $20 million request (about $10 million expected from Measure S and $10 million from RMRA/gas tax) to address priority paving locations.

During the workshop council members asked for more detailed budget materials for the next session, including prior‑year actuals, account descriptions and line‑item detail. Council agreed to schedule a second budget workshop for May 22 at 5:30 p.m. to review additional details before adoption. At the end of the meeting council unanimously approved a motion to continue the meeting past 10:00 p.m. under Resolution 2024‑029.

Votes at a glance: the only formal recorded vote captured in the transcript was a motion to continue past 10:00 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.

The council meeting adjourned later in the evening; staff said the calendar will include a subsequent workshop and quarterly reporting to monitor fiscal conditions.

The presentation and council discussion emphasized maintaining a conservative posture on revenue assumptions while investing in capital projects to address long‑standing infrastructure and park needs.