By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer
The Sacramento City Council and Mayor Kevin McCarty passed the city’s $1.65 billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year last week, closing a projected $62.2 million shortfall while avoiding layoffs of current city employees.
The vote followed weeks of community advocacy, sparked in part by the shooting death of 15-year-old Julius Chaney in the Meadowview neighborhood in late May. The tragedy mobilized community members and leaders to call for increased investment in youth violence prevention.
A last-minute push led by Councilmember Mai Vang and several community organizations to secure more funding for youth safety initiatives ultimately fell short. Still, the budget includes $1.3 million for youth services, specifically earmarked for the #SacTownYouthNights program. This initiative provides safe, engaging spaces for youth ages 12-24 on Friday and Saturday nights in key neighborhoods.
“Do not balance this budget on the backs of our most vulnerable neighborhoods,” Vang said at a press conference the day before the budget was adopted.
The funding for #SacTownYouthNights aligns with the Measure L Children’s Fund, which mandates that a portion of cannabis tax revenue be allocated to youth services. The city estimates $2.5 million in revenue for the fund in FY 2025-2026.
Derrell Roberts, co-founder of the Roberts Family Development Center, said some momentum was lost last year when the outgoing council reallocated prior violence prevention funds away from community-based organizations.
“We [the community] don’t get involved until it’s too late. We also honestly missed the ball when we allowed the outgoing council to cut half the money that was available this year and allowed them to put it to non-communities organizations,” Roberts told The OBSERVER.
He also emphasized the importance of early involvement in the budget process: “If the community-led organizations want more funding, they need to be involved in the budget process early.”
Despite the city’s fiscal challenges, the police department’s budget increased slightly from last year’s $250 million to approximately $254 million, a new record high. The department’s budget accounts for about 30% of the city’s general fund expenditures and remains the largest single departmental allocation.
Such continued investment in public safety has been a point of contention. While some community members argue for a more balanced approach that prioritizes social services, city officials emphasize the need to preserve core operations.
“We’re in summer now, and we see an uptick in violence, particularly youth gun violence, and we know that community safety, yes, it includes our police, but it also includes our community partners and it takes a holistic approach,” Vang said.
McCarty echoed the need to protect essential services and avoid job losses in the face of the budget shortfall.
“We wanted to minimize people having to literally lose their job and we did that. No one is actually losing their job. That’s an individual with a family and bills,” he said.
He added that the top issues he has heard from residents since taking office concern public safety and youth services.
“The overwhelming majority of our city council and the community did not want to cut core services like public safety, which is why the police department retained its funding,” McCarty said. “None of the choices that we saw on day one were ones that we wanted to do. But we have a job [to do].”
Beyond public safety and youth programs, the budget includes the following notable investments:
- Continued funding for 1,350 shelter beds, as well as supportive housing and navigation services.
- Funding for affordable housing development incentives and zoning streamlining through the Streamline Sacramento initiative.
- New library branches planned in North and South Sacramento.
- Creation of a transportation safety team to improve pedestrian and traffic safety in high-risk corridors.
Despite these efforts, city leaders acknowledge that Sacramento still faces long-term structural challenges, including $1.5 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and $1.8 billion in capital infrastructure needs.
The city also must continue identifying long-term solutions to its recurring budget gaps. The structural deficit is expected to grow to $77.6 million by the next fiscal cycle if current trends persist.