Finance committee directs Measure V interest toward park improvements, asks for parks commission input

Budget officer Felicia Galindo presented an update on Measure V (the voter‑approved half‑cent sales tax) to the Tracy Finance Committee on April 13, reporting $94 million received through June 30, 2025, and projected total Measure V revenue of roughly $247 million through the program’s sunset in 2037.

Galindo outlined committed and projected expenditures: a $55 million commitment for the aquatic center, funding for legacy fields and the track center, the nature park, and annual debt and operations commitments. She said about $1.4 million in interest earnings had accrued on Measure V balances as of Dec. 31, 2025, and staff proposed a set of potential allocations drawn from that interest, including roughly $650,000 for McDonald Park improvements (playground replacement and sports‑court renovation), $250,000 for Coral Hollow Road mulch and accent planting, and $100,000 for landscaping at 6th and Central.

Assistant parks director Richard Joaquin told the committee the listed projects had not been reviewed recently by the parks commission and that, given the timing, there might not be an opportunity to get formal parks commission comment prior to council consideration. Committee members said they preferred getting parks commission and community input before final allocation; the committee voted to direct staff to take proposed interest allocations to the parks commission for feedback and then return recommendations to council via the budget process.

The committee’s direction will be folded into the budget calendar: staff said recommendations will be included in the preliminary proposed budget and brought to the Finance Committee on May 18 and to Council for adoption on June 2. No final allocations were approved at the April 13 meeting.