What's at stake?
Despite weeks of talk about a city budget deficit — which ballooned to over $40 million — the city has a record-breaking $2 billion budget proposal.
After months of talk about a city deficit next year, Mayor Jerry Dyer’s record-breaking $2 billion budget proposal would expand several city departments, including police and transportation.
Fresno’s transportation department would get $33 million more — the proposal’s largest expansion — bringing its budget to about $172 million. Much of the increase covers the cost of the department’s vehicle acquisitions.
Dyer is also seeking council approval for a $288 million police budget, which is $26.5 million more than the council approved last year. The bigger budget covers increased payroll costs, a lease on a new helicopter and using federal relief dollars to replace 15 patrol vehicles.
The city’s public utilities and public works departments would see their budgets shrink the most under the mayor’s plan as one-time federal funding dries up. The City Attorney’s Office would also see less money as pandemic-era funding from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program is all used up, which in part funded the city’s Eviction Protection Program.
While it remains unclear whether the City Council will work to preserve the eviction program, officials connected to the project have acknowledged it would be an uphill battle as the city confronts a $47 million deficit.
“Now that we’re starting to see rent stabilized finally in our city, I’m hopeful that we will have less of a need but that’s yet to be determined,” Dyer told Fresnoland when he unveiled his budget May 16.
Back in March, Dyer announced that he would be meeting with the directors of every city department to see if they could institute a 3% budget cut. Dyer’s belt-tightening exercise was projected to free up about $3.5 million in city resources, according to his proposal, which he says preserves city staff jobs without furloughs or hiring freezes.
Under the mayor’s proposal, the Planning and Development Department budget would also be expanded to $263 million. Some of the increased funding includes an anticipated $20 million loan from the federal government to construct a new senior center in Fresno.
While fire department’s budget would see a small increase of $399,200 in 2025, the city's general fund will take on the burden of paying for dozens of new firefighters who were originally hired using temporary federal funding.
The city’s general fund will absorb the payroll cost of 42 of the new 66 firefighters hired with the temporary funds. Beginning this October, the city projects that cost to be $4.9 million. In the 2026 fiscal year, that line item would grow to $6.9 million.
“We knew when those grants rolled off that we had a choice to make,” Dyer told Fresnoland. “It was either to downsize a little bit or find other revenue sources to replace it. We have not been able to find 100% of the money to replace it.”
Should Measure P money help clean up state freeways?
One new Fresno budget line item Dyer introduced earlier this month would use about $355,500 in Measure P revenue to clean the 41, 99, 168 and 180 state freeways.
That proposal got some pushback last week from councilmembers who questioned whether city resources should be used to clean freeways, which are not under city jurisdiction.
Dyer also wants a $1 million incentive program to encourage developers to construct residential units on “underutilized lots” by reducing or eliminating developer impact fees and providing reimbursements for up to 50% of curb, gutter and sidewalk improvement costs.
The proposed budget also includes $500,000 to retain local companies in key economic development areas. It’s unclear how the funds would be used to retain companies and also which companies would be eligible.
Due to the success of the city’s facade improvement program this past year, Dyer is proposing another $1 million to keep it going in 2025. Through the program, businesses can apply for $25,000 grants to make.
Additionally, the city is moving forward with proposing a trash rate increase under the guidelines of Proposition 218, which requires the city to notify residents via mail how their trash rates would be impacted under a proposed rate increase.
Next in the Fresno budget process
Daylong hearings over Fresno’s city budget will begin next week at the Fresno Council Chambers and span from June 3 to 6. Councilmembers use budget hearings to determine gaps in the mayor’s budget proposal before putting forward funding motions.
After another budget hearing on June 12, a committee of councilmembers will begin negotiating the budget with the city’s administration. For the past five years, those negotiations have occurred behind closed doors. Last August, a Fresnoland investigation questioned whether that practice may have violated California’s Brown Act.
Three months later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and First Amendment Coalition sued the City of Fresno, alleging its budget committee violated state law by convening annual budget negotiations in private.
While the city maintained the practice was legal, the city council still disbanded its budget committee, along with 10 other committees that met privately. Back in February, they also approved a new way for three councilmembers to meet privately via “informal working groups” free of any record-keeping.
After budget negotiations, the Fresno City Council is expected to emerge with a final budget proposal, scheduled to either be approved on June 20 or June 27.
