SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The City of Sacramento is facing a projected $66 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.
The city held a community meeting on the budget Wednesday night in Natomas to let the public know about the budget situation and learn what they want to prioritize.
"We're facing inflation so our costs are going up. We've expanded into new service area... and we've had labor contracts," said Sacramento Finance Director Pete Coletto. "Those costs are outpacing our resources."
Wednesday's discussion was the first of three community meetings on the topic.
In Natomas, community members brought their questions about the budget to Coletto. They asked whether there could be layoffs, new taxes be proposed and what areas of the budget would be prioritized.
Coletto said the city is hoping to minimize the impact to staff and services to the public.
Sarah-Michael Gaston asked for the council to protect funding for youth programs. She is the deputy director of Youth Forward, a Sacramento-based organization that advocates for children and youth.
"You have young people that are taking care of their siblings, taking care of their parents or they have to get a job to put food on the table. We've got to prioritize them," she said. "Programs for violence prevention and making sure young people aren't on the streets."
Coletto said the city manager will present his proposed budget in late April and a final budget will be passed in June.
"He wants to take a strategic approach versus mandating across the board cuts," Coletto said.
The city's spokesperson, Tim Swanson, said results from the budget survey and feedback received at the community meetings will be publicly reported back to the council.
Coletto said it will ultimately be up to the City Council to decide how to balance the budget.
ABC10 asked Councilmember Lisa Kaplan's Chief of Staff Misty Alafranji what the councilmember's priorities will be.
"As Councilmember Kaplan considers the budget, the core services for the city are going to be the priority, which is going to be keeping our communities safe, fire, police, parks, roads and streets," she said.
The city has two remaining community meetings on the budget. The city is also accepting community feedback through an online survey. The survey is available in several languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese and Dari.
City Budget Community Meetings:
- Wednesday, March 13 6-7 p.m.
Pannell Meadowview Community Center (2450 Meadowview Road) - Thursday, March 14 6-7 p.m.
Clunie Community Center (601 Alhambra Blvd.)
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