Sacramento City Council Meeting - May 14, 2024: Budget, Fees, and Equity Tools
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Sacramento City Council Meeting - May 14, 2024
The Sacramento City Council met on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 2:03 PM in the City Hall Council Chamber. Mayor Darrell Steinberg presided, with Councilmembers Eric Guerra, Lisa Kaplan, Caity Maple, Shoun Thao, Katie Valenzuela, Mai Vang present; Mayor Pro Tem Karina Talamantes was absent. The meeting included a consent calendar, a public hearing on the citywide fee schedule, discussion of the 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Program (CIP), a presentation on the Budget Equity Resource Guide and Tool (BERG/T), and public comments on matters not on the agenda. The council adjourned at 4:25 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1–6 approved unanimously (7-0). Included:
- Maintenance assessment districts for Willowcreek, Northside Subdivision, Laguna Creek, and Neighborhood Water Quality (FY2024/25).
- Amendment to Memorandum of Agreement for RiverArc Project.
- Budgetary adjustments for Capital Improvement Project Management Software (Aurigo Software Technologies, Inc., $242,035 implementation, $90,643 annual subscription).
- Supplemental agreement for Interim Building Official services with CSG Consultants ($181,000).
- Supplemental agreement for telecommunications cabling and audio/video upgrades ($400,000).
- Contract supplement for towing and roadside services for light-duty vehicles ($505,000).
Public Comments & Testimony
- On Consent Calendar (Item 1): Macworthy questioned the lack of detail on district spending, criticized city deficits and utility ownership, and called for an outside audit.
- On Fee Schedule (Item 7):
- Guy Stevenson opposed fee increases, arguing they punish taxpayers for poor city spending and should be limited to police and fire.
- Macworthy said increases will price out residents and businesses; suggested a ballot measure.
- Tiffany Clark (resident) urged the council to reject home occupation fee increases and reform outdated rules that limit home businesses, especially for computer-based work.
- Elliot Clark (student) stated his game development business cannot be registered because his family already has the maximum two home businesses; he cannot afford the $5,265 exception fee.
- Keegan Clark (musician) said his online music business causes no disruption and should not be restricted.
- On CIP (Item 8): Macworthy alleged that city bonds are bought by foreign entities and that public investment reports are hidden.
- On Matters Not on the Agenda:
- Guy Stevenson urged the council not to cut youth programs or police/fire funding, warning of increased crime and drug use.
- Julius criticized the recent arrest of a citizen for alleged free speech violations, claiming the subpoena was based on false statements; he accused city leaders of lying.
- Macworthy asserted that the racial equity initiatives are divisive and accused certain groups of deception; he referenced a pending court case.
Discussion Items
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Item 7: FY2024/25 Citywide Fee Schedule Updates
- Finance Director Pete Coletto and Principal Budget Analyst Jason Bader presented 831 fee changes (55 new, 757 modified, 19 deleted) generating $2.3M general fund revenue and $525,000 for other funds.
- Councilmember Kaplan asked about parking sign costs; Public Works Director Matt Irman said overlays are minimal and costs are netted in projections.
- Councilmember Valenzuela proposed lowering the "no parking certain hours" fee from $60 to $50, citing equity concerns for renters in her district earning average $32,000/year; she also suggested higher fees for safety violations like parking on railroad tracks.
- Vice Mayor Maple raised concerns about youth programs (YIPSEY) fee increases and scholarship access; Jackie Beecham (YIPSEY) explained the expanded scholarship program.
- Mayor Steinberg noted a forthcoming letter with a proposal for income-based fee waivers.
- Staff confirmed home occupation permit fee would rise from $154 to $234; exception permit from $3,780 to $5,265, covering roughly $100,000 in cost recovery.
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Item 8: 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
- Nora Howard (Senior Budget Analyst) presented the five-year CIP totaling $482.5 million for 126 projects, with $71 million from general fund/Measure U. The unfunded gap is $1.4 billion.
- Councilmember Guerra requested direction on lighting at Granite Regional Park dog park and coordination with SAC United families for park improvements.
- Councilmember Kaplan noted deferred maintenance backlogs (parks: $118M; streets: $298M), staff reductions in facilities, and asked for reports on Arts Commission funding and various CIP items.
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Item 9: Update on Development and Pilot Application of Budget Equity Resource Guide and Tool (BERG/T)
- Diversity & Equity Manager Aimée Zenzele Barnes presented the pilot tool applied to three departments. Denise Malvetti (OIED) and Megan Van Voorhis (Convention & Cultural Services) described how they used the tool to analyze budget reductions.
- IT staff demonstrated the Sacramento Equity Explorer GIS tool with heat maps showing service calls and demographic data.
- Councilmember Vang emphasized the importance of institutionalizing equity tools and directing resources to underserved areas.
- Vice Mayor Maple suggested using the tool for community workshops.
- Councilmember Valenzuela highlighted the need for better data collection to capture cross-district service use.
- Mayor Steinberg proposed that next year each council member submit discrete research questions to inform the equity analysis and that equity impacts be included directly in budget proposals.
Key Outcomes
- Item 7: Motion by Councilmember Valenzuela, seconded by Councilmember Guerra, to approve the fee schedule with an amendment reducing the "no parking certain hours" fee from $60 to $50. Passed 7-0 (Resolution 2024-0153).
- Item 8: Received and considered for final budget adoption (no vote required; direction given).
- Item 9: Received and filed.
- Item 10: Postponed to the next council meeting (May 21, 2024).
- Council Comments & City Manager Report: None.
- Adjournment: 4:25 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, good deal. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh the Sacramento City Council, please come to order with the clerk call the roll to establish a quorum. Thank you. Councilmember Kaplan. Councilmember Tao. Mayor Pro Tem Talamantes will be absent. Councilmember Valenzuela? Here. Vice Mayor Maple. Here. Council Member Gatta. Here. Councilmember Jennings. Council Member Vang. Here. And Mayor Steinberg. I am here. Councilmember Jennings, would you please give us the honor of uh doing the land acknowledgement leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance? I absolutely will, Mayor. Please rise for the opening acknowledgement in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands to the original people of this land. The Nision people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains, Miwok, the Patwin Whitnam peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the native land, native people who came before us and still walk beside us on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together in the practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous people's history, contribution, and lives. Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Council member Jennings, uh, very good afternoon, everyone. Let us begin uh with the consent calendar. Are there questions or items that members would like to discuss or have separate votes on? Okay. Anyone else? Okay, Councilmember Kaplan. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to um commend our our city staff. I serve uh on the regional water authority, and this River Arc project is really just another way of how do we look at our watersheds and our water here in Sacramento for best practices as well as you know looking at water mitigation and how we save water and use it in the future, and this River Arc project is just one of those. Um, and so I just want to thank um Brett Ewart, who is the chair of the Regional Water Authority, who is leading uh the city on this as well as staff and appreciation for all that they're doing. Thank you very much, Councilmember. Uh, do we have public testimony on the consent calendar? I have one speaker, Macworthy on agenda item number one on the consent calendar. Oh, when we look at the consent calendar, then we look at what you are speaking to. What were any public information on how much money that you are spending in those districts? See, that could be billions of dollars spent, and the public don't know because this is wide open. District three, district eight, uh subsidized maintenance, and then neighborhood water. What's the dollar? That's what it public. We see we don't have in Northern California the business educated people, they just accept garbage and don't question. See, I was in the business for 59 years here in Sacramento. That's mean I can question when I see stuff down here.
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