Pittsburg approves $62 million general fund budget

PITTSBURG The Pittsburg City Council unanimously adopted a million general fund budget for the - fiscal year adding about more in expenses than the budget Although the city projects revenues of almost million it is also anticipating a deficit of about Related Articles BART wants sales tax increase but its payrolls soared as ridership declined Letters As California heats up CEQA should be used more San Jose could receive more than million after approving digital billboards at three new locations What s new in the Senate version of Trump s tax and spending bill Borenstein This Bay Area city s half-century of pension taxes provides a cautionary tale During the Pittsburg City Council meeting last week Assistant City Manager Maria M Aliotti announced the city strives for a balanced budget As you know it s been our practice that if we were of our operating budget we can usually recover through attrition and specific savings because we don t really spend stated Aliotti Aliotti noted that the city s overall revenue has increased by million compared to the - year-end estimate primarily due to an increase in non-departmental revenues These consist of various funding sources such as sales taxes transit occupancy taxes property taxes and various franchise fees Aliotti disclosed the Pittsburg Police Department is also seeing a revenue hike of almost of which comes from the neighborhood facilities district Despite an overall increase in revenue the city is facing higher expenditures primarily due to million channeled toward personnel-related costs According to a city staff description various of the contributing factors include a cost-of-living adjustment additional unfunded accrued liability general liability and workers compensation insurance and diagnostic and dental insurance Aliotti mentioned the city manager tasked departments with staying within the - fiscal year budget and they ve knocked it out of the park Among the departments supported within the general fund the Code Enforcement Department saw an increase of in expenses while the Citizens Works Department saw a drop in its expenses compared to the - mid-year budget The police department has also requested about under the capital expenditure to outfit patrol cars and purchase equipment for its canine initiative The staff account noted that the city s general fund reserve is or about million of its operating budget It also noted that the budget stabilization fund has a shortfall of from the required million Aliotti stated the matter will be brought back to the Finance Management Subcommittee to discuss how to address the differences in the budget sustainability fund Mayor Jelani Killings thanked city staff for their effort to keep the budget in check I know that we re all trying to do more with less explained Killings I know we have a big focus in terms of economic advance trying to identify additional revenues to come in but also being able to live within our means creating a standard in terms of the quality of life and the services that our residents expect and should receive