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San Ramon budget workshop: personnel remains largest cost, sales‑tax forecast lifts 2026–27 reserves
Summary
City staff presented draft FY2026–27 expenditures. Personnel costs are the largest single category (~72% of GF operating). An updated Measure N sales‑tax forecast rose about $1.5 million, improving projected reserves; staff proposed separating recurring infrastructure maintenance from one‑time capital projects.
City budget staff presented a draft of FY2026–27 expenditures and outlined strategies to keep growth aligned with long‑term fiscal sustainability.
Budget manager Julia Elbow told the council that personnel costs make up the majority of general‑fund operating expenditures — roughly 72.2% (about $55.4 million) in the draft. Departments were asked to keep non‑discretionary growth near 2.3% and to plan around actual expenditures rather than prior budget line items.
Elbow flagged several items affecting operating growth: consulting and professional services (about 10.5% of the general‑fund budget, with average contract growth near 5%), utilities and maintenance (projected +7.7%) and accounting changes that reclassify instructor payments as expenses (raising both revenues and expenses by roughly $1.8 million for presentation purposes).
A key development was a revised sales‑tax forecast: consultants now project Measure N revenue of about $14.94 million for FY2026–27, roughly $1.5 million higher than the projection three months earlier. Staff said that improvement would lift projected reserves and keep general‑fund reserves above the city target in the near term.
Finance staff proposed two accounting and programmatic changes to improve capital planning: create a CIP/grants program manager in finance to oversee restricted‑fund compliance and better align capital budgeting with accounting; and move recurring maintenance projects into an infrastructure‑maintenance fund (IMF) while keeping one‑time investments in the capital improvement program (CIP). Staff warned the IMF/CIP reclassification will require detailed reconciliation and could delay the publication of the adopted budget as books are aligned.
Council members asked for additional benchmarking with comparable cities on consulting and personnel ratios and requested clearer, auditable backup for consulting and contract increases. Staff said many consulting contracts supply specialized or surge capacity the city cannot efficiently internalize without adding long‑term staff and benefits costs.
No budget ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff will incorporate council feedback into the May 12 preliminary budget and return with a proposed budget on May 26.
