Berkeley council reviews mid‑biennial budget; debate over housing trust reallocations and oversight staffing

City staff presented a mid‑biennial FY26 budget update at the June 24 Berkeley City Council meeting that closes a multi‑million dollar shortfall largely through one‑time measures and vacancy freezes, setting up debates among councilmembers over preserving housing funds and oversight staffing.

Acting budget manager Shauna Aminagawan said the budget team began the cycle expecting a $28.9 million gap that was reduced to roughly $21.4 million after updated revenue estimates and department actions. "We are now presenting a balanced budget for you to consider for adoption," she told the council, summarizing a package that uses position freezes, transfers from pension and workers' compensation reserves, IT cost shifts and other one‑time strategies. The staff presentation listed proposed total expenditures of $829,213,359 and a General Fund of approximately $311 million.

Several councilmembers expressed deep concern about relying on one‑time sources. Councilmember Casarwani, chair of the Finance and Budget Policy Committee, urged restraint and proposed refinements that would limit the FY26 housing‑trust commitment and freeze one of two vacant investigator positions in the Office of the Director of Police Accountability (ODPA) for 12 months. "We're proposing to freeze vacant positions for 12 months," Casarwani said, characterizing the idea as a temporary measure to share the fiscal burden across departments.

ODPA Director Aguilar told the council the office had been funded for two investigators but was operating with vacancies and argued investigators are necessary to meet charter timelines. "We closed 50 cases last year and 459 allegations," he said, stressing the workload and noting that investigations span the whole spectrum from minor policy violations to serious incidents that require lengthy reviews.

The city attorney warned that freezing a dedicated risk manager position would increase the city's risk exposure and could raise future costs. The attorney described several functions a risk manager would provide, including insurance program oversight, claims monitoring and participation in the city's risk pool that can lower outside counsel costs. Councilmembers discussed alternatives such as funding a partial year of the role and housing it in Human Resources, but did not reach a final agreement during the session.

Council also debated immediate capital and service priorities: an immediate $250,000 general‑fund start to replace decking on F & G docks (with additional funds to come from T1 or other sources), a proposed new social‑services specialist for the Homeless Response Team ($175,000), $120,000 to cover a YouthWorks shortfall, and a one‑year fee holiday for Adventure Playground estimated at $25,000 net revenue cost. Councilmembers negotiated using small discretionary amounts from their offices, carryover funds and estimated auditor salary savings to fund a package of these items.

Public commenters urged the council to preserve small sites funding (a housing trust program to acquire and preserve small affordable properties), and multiple housing and community organizations urged keeping the mayor's proposed $3.9 million allocation for small sites rather than reducing it. Street Spirit vendors and drop‑in service providers urged funding for the nonprofit's vendor program and services.

What happened in the meeting: the council accepted supplemental budget materials from staff for consideration and debated a set of friendly amendments and refinements; several changes were proposed on the floor, and negotiations continued into the late evening. The council did not adopt the entire mid‑biennial package in final form during the excerpt of the meeting in this transcript; several votes and accounting adjustments remained in process at the end of the record.

Key numbers and proposals on the record: - Initial projected deficit: $28,900,000; reduced to $21,400,000 in May updates (staff presentation). - Proposed total expenditures: $829,213,359 (staff presentation). - Proposed immediate dock start: $250,000 general fund (with additional T1 funding planned for full reconstruction). - Proposed Homeless Response Team social‑services FTE: $175,000. - YouthWorks gap identified after packet published: $120,000. - Small sites funding: mayor proposed preserving $3,900,000 total (including carryover); alternate proposal recommended limiting the new FY26 housing trust commitment to $1,100,000 pending full FY27 revenue picture.

Next steps: council continued to negotiate amendments and will reconcile year‑end savings and final numbers before formal adoption. Some measures (T1 allocations, dock reconstruction) will require additional commission review and later council approval.