San Leandro City Council Work Session – April 14, 2026: Budget Mid-Cycle Update
San Leandro City Council Work Session – April 14, 2026: Budget Mid-Cycle Update
The San Leandro City Council held a work session on April 14, 2026, to review proposed changes for the Fiscal Year 2027 mid-cycle budget update. Finance Director Nicole Gonzalez presented the recommended expenditure reductions, general fund transfer reductions, a funding plan to avoid critical infrastructure failures, and a discussion on council compensation. After public testimony and extensive council deliberation, the council provided direction to staff for adoption.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Douglas Spaulding urged the council to vote in a city revenue measure in November, opposed cuts to the Alternative Response Unit (ARU), suggested deeper cuts to security contracts, and proposed a voluntary freeze on council pay or a 0.65% CPI increase (lesser of 3%).
- Melissa Wong criticized the budget process for lacking public engagement and performance metrics, called for a task force and participatory budgeting, and expressed concern that reductions are made without clear understanding of departmental utilization.
- Emily Grego (San Leandro Chamber of Commerce) opposed cuts that impact the business environment, specifically the ARU, downtown ambassador program, third-party encampment cleanup, and branding/marketing. She argued these cuts weaken the city's ability to attract and retain businesses.
- Alvaro Ramos argued the city's economic model has failed, called for deeper cuts to police (nearly one-third of general fund) and warned that police are “obsolete.” He advocated for keeping libraries open on all weekdays and said cuts could increase future deficits.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Finance Director Nicole Gonzalez: Reviewed the budget history, council principles, proposed general fund reductions (total ~$9.1 million across departments), and transfers. She highlighted a $4.6 million funding plan for critical failures: City Hall and Marina Community Center painting, Fire Station 10 roof replacement, and CAD RMS replacement (911 dispatch system). General fund transfers would be reduced by $1 million each year from FY27-29.
- Council Compensation: Staff presented options per Government Code for a 5% increase or CPI adjustment (3.1%). The finance committee made no recommendation.
- Council Discussion on Specific Items:
- Downtown Ambassador Program (Item 53): Councilmembers Bowen and James Aguilar advocated for keeping the program, citing data showing positive downtown trends and the ambassadors’ role beyond police capacity. The cut would not take effect until FY28, so no FY27 impact.
- School Crossing Guard Program (Item 1): Councilmember James Aguilar expressed concerns but was reassured after learning the school district is open to funding more crossing guards and the city already partners with district on Safe Routes to School. No reversal of the cut was proposed.
- Arts Mini Grants (Item 21): Mayor proposed maintaining the $50,000 program by reallocating funds from a comedy event (Comedy in the Plaza) that is not under contract and using carryover grant/gift funds (~$22,000). Council consensus to maintain.
- Economic Development Studies (Item 58) vs. Business Incentive Program (Item 57): Councilmember Bowen proposed shifting $50,000 from the restored $100,000 in studies to the business incentive program (net cut of $50k). Councilmember Bolt supported, and the council reached majority support.
- Council Compensation: Mayor stated that a motion to change compensation would lack enough votes; council directed no change (maintain current rate, no increase).
- General Fund Transfer Reductions: Council provided begrudging support, acknowledging infrastructure needs but recognizing the short-term necessity.
Key Outcomes
- The council supported the proposed expenditure reductions for FY27, with the following adjustments:
- Downtown Ambassador Program: No reduction in FY27; direction to staff to keep it as a high priority for future years.
- Arts Mini Grants: Maintained at current level using one-time funds from comedy event reallocation and grant/gift carryover (no general fund impact for FY27).
- Economic Development Studies & Business Incentive Program: $50,000 from the restored studies line (Item 58) reallocated to the business incentive program (Item 57), resulting in an additional net cut of $50,000.
- Council compensation remains unchanged (no increase).
- General fund transfer reductions were supported (reduction of $1 million each year FY27-29).
- Funding plan to avoid critical failures ($4.6 million total: CAD RMS replacement from emergency reserves, painting and roof from fund balance) was supported.
- FY27 mid-cycle update will be brought back for adoption, incorporating the above direction. Staff will refine the budget and return for formal adoption at a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, so it's seven oh two, and I'm calling this meeting of the San Landro City Council to order. Today is a work session. It is April thirteenth, twenty twenty six. This point in time, Madam Clerk, would you please take a roll. Councilmember James Aguilar. Present. Council Member Victor Aguilar. Present. Councilmember Fred Simon is currently absent. Councilmember Bowen. Present. Vice Mayor Vivero Swalton. Present. Present. Councilmember Bolt. Present. And Mayor Gonzalez. Present. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I will start with my announcement. The City of San Leandro conducts orderly meetings to fulfill its mandate. Discriminatory statements of conduct that would potentially violate the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and or the California Federal Employment and Housing Act, California Penal Code Sections Four Three or Four Fifteen are per se disruptive to a meeting and will not be tolerated. If you would like to make a public comment during the meeting, you can do so in person or via Zoom. If you are present at the meeting, please complete a speaker card and submit it to the city clerk before the item is presented. If you wish to participate in public comment via Zoom, you can use the raise your hand tool when the item is called. More information may be forthcoming in the coming weeks related to the same. More generally direction provided to staff. Thank you. All right. Here we go. Thank you so much for that. We will move to item 4A. This is our item for today's agenda. Um I'll just very begin. I'll begin briefly by just reminding council that uh we are in a difficult situation with our budget. Each of you has uh expressed concerns, and I'm very grateful for all the work that you have done in recognizing the gravity of our situation and the work that has gone thus far into proposing some solutions to the challenges that we face. With that being said, I will introduce Finance Director Nicole Gonzalez to take us through what we need to achieve today. Great, thank you. Um good evening, Mayor, members of the city council, Nicole Gonzalez from the city's finance director. Um today is a work session, which will review proposed changes for the fiscal year 27 mid-cycle update. So, in way of background, um really wanting to focus on the bottom half of the uh slide here, which is why we're here this evening. So in June of 2025, we adopted a budget that was balanced for fiscal year 26. Um, for 2027, the city uh did not present a balanced budget. It did project a use of reserves to balance that budget. Council granted staff more time to close that structural deficit in 27 and beyond in a meaningful way that was much more um clearly understanding the impacts for both the organization and the community. And so the direction at that time was um our expenses uh should equal our revenues for fiscal year 26 and 27, not including transfers, and then in 28 and beyond, all of our expenditures plus our transfers should equal revenue. Um I will pause for a second here. This is just a roadmap of where we've been and and where we're headed. Um a lot of the slides that you will see tonight have been presented in a number of uh different council settings of the last several months. So I will not be spending great detail on every slide, um, but did want to provide a snapshot on where we're at.
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