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Bakersfield officials outline 2026 budget, warn of $23 million in cost pressures and plan cuts to fill gap
Summary
City finance officials told a public workshop the 2026 budget shows an $852 million total with a projected $23 million rise in expenditures driven by wages, pensions and fleet costs; staff propose cutting about $9 million by eliminating roughly 70 vacant positions and trimming discretionary spending to present a balanced budget to council.
Bakersfield finance officials on Thursday laid out a 2026 budget picture that they said requires department and staffing cuts to close a widening gap between revenues and rising costs.
"The total budget on the left, the first column, of $852,000,000, that is the total budget," Finance Director Randy McKegan said as he walked attendees through the presentation. He described roughly $100,000,000 in planned capital improvements and called the general fund the city’s discretionary operational fund.
McKegan told the hybrid public workshop that the city faces roughly $23 million in expenditure increases next fiscal year — driven by wages (about $8.7 million), a $5.3 million increase in pension costs tied to CalPERS…
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