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Vacaville staff warn $12 million budget gap; departments outline 2.5% cuts and deeper options
Summary
City staff told the council that Vacaville faces an estimated $12 million general-fund shortfall for FY 2026—27. Department heads described what a 2.5% reduction already in place means for services and detailed steeper 5% options that could brown out an ambulance, freeze or eliminate staff, and cut community programs.
City officials presented a stark fiscal picture April 14, telling the Vacaville City Council that the general fund faces an estimated $12,000,000 gap for fiscal year 2026—27 and outlining department-level options to close the deficit.
"At this point in the process ... our projection as of today is that for fiscal year 27 the gap between our revenues and expenses would be over $12,000,000," Finance Director Ken Matsumia said. Staff emphasized that the 2.5% reductions already directed for the current year remain in force; the meeting presentation showed what those cuts have required and what deeper 5% reductions would look like as an illustrative exercise to inform later budget decisions.
Department heads described concrete service impacts. The finance director said his department eliminated part-time help and an intern program to reach 2.5% savings and that further cuts would require frozen positions or layoffs.
The city attorney warned that reducing outside legal services and cutting training under a 5% scenario would raise legal risk and could increase litigation costs, while city-manager's office and public-relations reductions could significantly reduce community engagement and advertising.
Public safety leaders gave the most specific operational examples. Fire department leadership described a 2.5% plan that would brown out one ambulance unit (Medic 72) and said a 5% move would brown out additional overnight EMS capability, cross-staff units and remove code-compliance technicians. "The 5% reduction ... is not a sustainable option for me," the fire chief said, warning of increased response times and elevated operational risk if units are taken offline.
The police chief told council the department is operating short and using overtime to backfill daily minimum staffing. He said the department is "about 20 people down" at times because of vacancies and injuries and described plans to close specialized crew assignments and move personnel back to patrol to reduce overtime exposure. He added that cutting training could create downstream legal and operational problems.
Other departments explained trade-offs: parks and recreation said a 5% cut could mean eliminating large events (the cost to the parks department for the Fourth of July approaches $50,000) and cutting youth scholarships that serve hundreds of kids; public works warned pausing pavement and playground maintenance risks deferred costs and liability claims; housing and community services said nearly all of their $31.5 million portfolio is grant- or fee-funded, leaving only about $200,000 from the general fund and limited ability to absorb cuts without slowing critical programs.
Residents urged caution. "Please consider not cutting services to the community like parks, police, fire, street repair, gang violence prevention, and domestic violence," resident Wendy Brecken said during public comment.
City manager Chaudhry stressed the presentation was informational and that no decisions were required at the meeting. Staff said they will continue budget-development work, provide more analysis and return to the council during upcoming budget study sessions with options for closing the gap.
Next steps: staff will refine scenarios during the budget process, meet with council in study sessions, and propose budget adjustments or revenue options as needed; no final budget decisions were made on April 14.
