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Hayward schedules Feb. 28 budget retreat as leaders weigh business license tax and other fixes after $30M reserve use
Summary
At a Jan. 6 Hayward City Council work session, staff outlined steps that balanced the 2025–26 budget but left no contingency and flagged a large reserve drawdown; councilmembers and residents debated revenue options including a possible modernized business license tax ahead of a Feb. 28 retreat.
Hayward City Council on Jan. 6 set a Feb. 28 budget retreat and heard a detailed budget update that staff says balanced the current fiscal year but left the city with little margin for error after a large use of reserves.
City Finance Director Deanna Hillbrantz told the council staff used a combination of measures to balance the budget, including a $3,850,000 loan from Measure C, service-and-supplies reductions of roughly $2.7–$2.8 million, access to the OPEB trust (up to $3 million) and about $8.3 million in personnel-related savings from concessions, voluntary separations and layoffs. Hillbrantz urged caution: “the budget itself is balanced, but there's no room for anything unexpected.”
The update prompted debate over both near-term and structural steps. City Manager Ott said staff has engaged a consultant, billed on a time-and-materials basis, to build a fiscal model for a modernized business…
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