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Council adopts midyear budget adjustments; directs follow‑up on after‑school transportation, stage and video funding
Summary
The Milpitas City Council approved midyear budget amendments March 4, including payroll and actuarial adjustments, mutual‑aid revenue alignment, and program funding changes. The council removed a proposed mobile stage purchase from the package, cut video spending and requested further analysis of the After the Bell student transportation program and overtime trends.
Milpitas — The City Council approved midyear budget amendments for fiscal year 2024–25 on March 4, adopting staff’s package of technical budget adjustments and directing additional follow‑up on several program items.
Finance Director Luz Covesi Howe (presented in transcript as Luz Cofresse Howe) reviewed the quarter‑ending Dec. 31, 2024 financial status and explained the midyear adjustments staff recommended to align estimated revenues and expenditures through the remainder of the fiscal year. The midyear package reflected: payroll and longevity increases consistent with recently settled agreements; an actuarial increase for other post‑employment benefits (retiree health care); and a net increase in reimbursable mutual‑aid fire revenues and corresponding overtime expense to align budgeted reimbursements with actual mutual‑aid activity.
Staff also proposed modest program adjustments: increased recreation contract/class revenue and offsetting contractual service budgets; funding for the city’s After the Bell student transportation for the current school year (transportation costs the city pays to the school district for roughly 70 students); a request to replace a mobile event stage (staff noted the existing stage had been out of service and the city had paid repeated rental fees); and funding for expanded city video and communications content.
During the meeting councilmembers raised questions about retiree‑health actuarial increases, recurring overtime levels and whether the ATB transportation service should be continued or transitioned to another provider. Several members asked for a fuller breakdown of overtime and hiring activity. Staff said mutual‑aid reimbursements are intended to offset overtime related to state wildfire responses and that Rivian‑related discussion elsewhere on the agenda addressed training and other safety coordination.
Councilmember Evelyn Chua moved adoption of the midyear amendments; the motion included council direction later in the meeting to remove the proposed mobile stage purchase from the midyear package, reduce the proposed communications/video line item to $5,000, and direct staff to provide a feasibility analysis and cost‑recovery information for the After the Bell program and the city’s overtime trends, plus three years of actuarial history for retiree health projections. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
What’s next: staff will post the amended budget and classification table if needed, provide the requested overtime and hiring detail to the council, and return additional information on After the Bell program options and the retiree benefit actuarial history during the upcoming budget study sessions.
Votes at a glance: - Midyear budget amendments for FY 2024–25 (as amended on the dais: mobile stage purchase removed; video line reduced to $5,000; staff to provide additional analysis of After the Bell and overtime trends) — Moved: Councilmember Evelyn Chua; Second: Vice Mayor Barbara Barbadillo; Outcome: Approved unanimously.
