By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer
The City of Sacramento approved its $1.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year at Tuesday nightโs council meeting while resolving its $66 million deficit.
To balance the budget, the city had to eliminate roughly 44 vacant full-time positions but did not eliminate any filled positions.
Peter Coletto, the cityโs director of finance, said finding ways to make up for the deficit was challenging but was done with as little impact on the community as possible.
Councilmembers Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela voted to not approve the budget because they claimed it does not address the public demand to improve public safety.
In a joint statement, Vang and Valenzuela said they have seen the City Council increase the police department’s budget by almost $100 million and yet Sacramentans still do not feel safe.
โSimply giving more funding to the police does not lead to safer or healthier outcomes in our neighborhoods,โ the statement read. โWe are proud that this balanced budget avoided layoffs and saved some critical programs, but we continue to be disappointed with the status quo budget process. Unless we transform how we allocate our resources to achieve our collective goals, we will continue to fail to see the outcomes our community is demanding.โ
Several people from the business community expressed their public safety concerns and spoke in support of the need to properly fund the police department.
Among them was Topo Padilla, co-owner of Greg Padilla Bail Bonds, who said that the murder of his employee, 56-year-old Kevin Brace, who was assaulted and killed while working downtown, exemplifies the need to fully fund the police.
โLeave the police alone and let them protect us,โ Padilla said. โItโs in your hands and you can do it by letting them (the police) do their job.โ
Mayor Darrell Steinberg made it clear that no cuts were made to the police department.
The budget also maintained funding for key priorities such as homelessness, including the operation of 1,350 shelter beds and free RT to students.
City Manager Howard Chan had proposed eliminating the cityโs contribution for RydeFreeRT but Mayor Steinberg put together a partnership with several local school districts and Sacramento Regional Transit District to continue providing students free ridership.
Though the city was able to avoid reducing staff and maintain community services, that may not be the case next year given the cityโs long term financial challenges.
In addition to its structural operating budget de๏ฌcit, the City has long-term unfunded liabilities such as unfunded pension liabilities and unfunded retiree health bene๏ฌt liabilities.
The forecast for next yearโs budget is a $77 million deficit, and in fiscal year 2028/29, there is a $117 million deficit forecasted.
There are also concerns of where funding for homelessness will come from since Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $260-million reduction in the next round of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) funding. Local governments would not receive new HHAP funding for homelessness after the next round of grants.
Council member Lisa Kaplan said the structural deficit projected over the next four years could lead to staffing cuts to police or fire departments.
โI am glad that we addressed the $66 million deficit but I wish we would have done more because โฆ weโre going to have to cut people,โ Kaplan said. โWe have in front of us four years of a huge structural deficit that we should start working on now.โ