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Taft council adopts final FY2025-26 budget and approves proposed FY2026-27 budget
Summary
The Taft City Council adopted a resolution on June 16 approving the city's FY2025-26 final budget and the proposed FY2026-27 budget, both projecting about $9.4 million in revenues and expenditures. Council members said local sales tax (Measure A) and transfers are critical to the plan; the vote was 4-0.
Taft 's City Council voted 4-0 on June 16 to adopt a resolution approving the city's final operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2025-26 and the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27.
Sharon Rabon, a consultant with Price Page Company who presented the budget, said the general fund was budgeted at roughly $9.4 million in revenues and $9.4 million in expenditures for FY 2026-27 and that the fund covers 15 departments including police, fire, public works and administration. "The general fund has budgeted an estimated approximately 9.4 million in revenues and 9.4 million in expenditures," Rabon said during the council presentation.
Why it matters: Council members and staff said the city relies heavily on sales-tax transfers (Measure A) and interfund transfers to balance operations. City Manager Craig Jones and staff emphasized that transfers into the general fund, including about $2 million tied to the local Measure A sales tax, are a material component of the revenue picture and that net operating results are sensitive to one-time items such as a $750,000 Transportation Development Act (TDA) payment noted in the discussion.
Key facts and figures
- Total general fund budget (proposed FY 2026-27): approximately $9.4 million in revenues and $9.4 million in expenditures, Rabon said. Police services account for the largest share of general fund spending at about $3.9 million (roughly 42%).
- Transfers and sales tax: Rabon and city staff explained that a large "transfers in" slice on the revenue pie is driven in part by Measure A local sales-tax receipts, which the staff estimated at about $2 million and in combination with state sales taxes account for roughly 40% of the city's budgeted revenues.
- Operating surplus (net of capital): Councilmembers and staff said that, net of planned capital expenditures, the city is showing an estimated operating surplus of roughly $450,000.
- One-time/near-term items: Council discussed a roughly $750,000 projected TDA payment that affects near-term cash flow and a pending update to general-liability numbers from the risk pool (RMA). Staff said final liability figures would be available around June 25.
- Capital items listed in the presentation include: police vehicles ($80,000), police computer equipment ($55,000), police building improvements ($50,000), police radio repeater ($20,000), finance computer maintenance ($30,000), street striping ($50,000) and annual street repairs (~$500,000). A planned capital outlay total of about $326,000 was discussed, including $143,000 for software.
Council discussion and controls
Councilmembers praised staff for producing a conservative, "living" budget and repeatedly noted that several cost drivers (workers' compensation, insurance rates and CalPERS unfunded liability) are set outside the city's control. Lon, a member of the city's risk/finance staff, said liability projections came from RMA March figures and promised updated numbers later in June. Councilmember Crier and others pressed staff on transfer-in assumptions and confirmed the treatment of capital reserves that would be used to subsidize capital spending.
The vote and next steps
A resolution titled "A resolution of the City Council of the City of Taft adopting the City of Taft final budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 and a proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-2027" was moved, seconded and approved on a 4-0 roll-call vote (Councilmember Crier: yes; Mayor Pro Tem Tim Bryant: yes; Councilmember Waldrip: yes; Mayor North: yes). The council then moved to approve routine consent items and adjourned to closed session to discuss labor negotiations, real-property negotiations and litigation (including Taft Union High School v. City of Taft, Kern County case S-1500-CV-28384).
What the council will watch next: staff said it will monitor final general-liability numbers from the risk pool, the one-time TDA payment impact, and ongoing capital project timing. The council signaled readiness to adjust planned capital purchases or expenditures if updated revenue or liability figures warrant changes.
