Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Preliminary FY 2025–26 budget projects modest surplus; council discusses sheriff staffing and possible joint letter to supervisors
Summary
Finance staff presented a conservative preliminary general fund forecast for fiscal 2025–26 showing a small projected surplus; council debated refuse-rate timing and potential increases to contract costs for sheriff services and directed staff to prepare a draft letter supporting increased deputy recruitment and staffing.
City Finance staff presented a preliminary projection for the general fund for fiscal year 2025–26 showing modest growth in property taxes (staff used a conservative 4% projection) and overall a projected budgetary surplus of about $77,000 absent new capital proposals.
Major revenue drivers discussed included property tax growth, real property transfer tax tied to home sales, and building-permit revenues; staff noted building permits are volatile and the Finance/Audit/Budget committee recommended a conservative permit revenue estimate. Staff noted salary and benefit inflation (3.5% COLA and up to 1.5% merit for employees) and anticipated modest increases in contract costs for law enforcement (county sheriff) including a rise in liability premiums. On benefits, staff included a 2% increase in maximum employer contributions for health coverage consistent with labor agreements.
Council paused on a policy decision over refuse rates: staff was directed to mail Prop.218 notices to begin the public hearing process for a refuse-provider COLA (the contract is roughly $1 million, and a 5% increase would be on the order of $50,000). Council members debated whether the general fund should absorb any increase or pass it to ratepayers; the council directed staff to notice the hearing, with final decisions to come at the hearing.
During the budget presentation council members also discussed public-safety service levels provided under the county sheriff contract. City staff and council members attending a peninsula-wide city-manager meeting described sheriff recruitment and academy capacity challenges, and council members asked staff to work with neighboring Peninsula cities and the mayor pro tem on a joint letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors supporting Sheriff Luna’s recruitment initiatives and requests for county resources to fill deputy vacancies.
Why this matters: the budget outlook is stable but sensitive to building permit receipts, contract COLA requests and staffing levels for public safety; the council’s direction to notice refuse-rate adjustments begins a formal public process that could affect household bills later this year.
