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Bureau of Engineering outlines Willits obligations, sidewalk rebates and limited hillside funding
Summary
The Bureau of Engineering told the committee its no-growth FY 2026–27 request depends on special funds; the Willits settlement requires a minimum annual commitment (years 6–10: $35.7M) and the bureau said it will meet the curb-ramp $5M obligation while confirming ramp counts (about 120 last year, projecting 111 this year).
Alfred Mata, interim city engineer, told the Public Works Committee the Bureau of Engineering is operating under a no-growth instruction from the mayor's office and only requested new staff when grant or special funds could pay for them. Mata said permit-fee changes helped stabilize the bureau and may generate roughly $7 million in additional revenue.
On sidewalks and the Willits settlement, BOE staff explained that the program is primarily responsive: access requests are filed by individuals with mobility disabilities and the program historically received roughly $1 million in rebate applications annually and maintained a multi-year surplus. The settlement includes a minimum 30‑year commitment; BOE said years 6–10 set a minimum annual obligation of $35.7 million and the current adopted budget shows $40 million for those commitments.
BOE clarified the curb‑ramp obligation: the settlement requires a minimum $5 million per year for curb ramps. Julia (Willits program staff) said the bureau installed a little over 100 ramps last year (about 120) and projects roughly 111 for the current fiscal year. The bureau said it will continue issuing rebates using the existing program surplus until that funding is exhausted and will expand contractual work as needed to meet the $5 million obligation.
Councilmembers pressed BOE about hillside-slope stability funding; Mata said geotechnical and structural divisions support slope investigations and repairs through CTIEP planning when funding is available but that dedicated federal or state programs to underwrite large-scale hillside stabilization have not been identified.
