Mid-Year Budget News
- Livable El Cerrito
- Mar 7
- 5 min read
The El Cerrito City Council voted March 4 to authorize new mid-year spending that will leave the city with a projected deficit of about $1 million as of June 30, 2025.
The vote in favor of the new spending was 4-1, with Councilmember William Ktsanes voting no.
“I’m not opposed to any of the budget adjustments,” Ktsanes said. “What I’m opposed to is the deficit.”
Ktsanes said he thought the latest program and personnel requests deserve to be funded, but the budget process should require that cuts be made elsewhere to offset the new spending. Funding new items late in the year distorts the budget process because you’re not weighing them against the things that are already in the budget, Ktsanes said.
Reasons for Deficit
In a later interview, Ktsanes noted that only about $132,000 of the $1 million deficit was due to changes made on March 4. Most of the budget adjustments leading to a deficit were discussed earlier this fiscal year, including about $390,000 to cover higher-than-budgeted costs for salaries and benefits negotiated by several of the city’s bargaining units.
City Finance Director Crystal Reams said another $600,000 was money rolled over from purchase orders for budgeted items for which money was not spent in that fiscal year.
Healthy Fund Balance
Reams and Budget Director Claire Coleman reported that the city’s general fund balance, which was $22.9 million as of June 30, 2024, will decline to $21.8 million on June 30, 2025 after the mid-year adjustments.
They noted the city is not in danger of failing to meet any of its financial obligations. The city has $9 million in an emergency fund and after mid-year adjustments will still have an unrestricted general fund balance of $11.3 million.
Fire Department Funding and A Library Consultant
Two of the proposed mid-year additions to spending were strongly supported by residents who attended Tuesday night’s meeting.
For the fire department, the city decided to spend an additional $95,000 on maintenance of fire vehicles and to convert a half-time fire marshal/inspector position to full-time.
To provide construction management expertise for a new city library, the council allocated $45,000 to the city manager’s office to contract with Griffin Structures to act as owner’s representative for the city.
Full-Time Fire Inspector
Effective April 1, the fire department’s fire marshal/inspector position will be converted from half-time to full-time.
Currently, fire inspections are required when real estate transactions occur in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ). More inspections will be needed when the state finalizes a rule requiring a 5-foot clear zone around buildings in a VHFHSZ. (See related story.)
In addition, the fire department expects to receive more requests from residents who want to qualify for an insurance reduction under the California FAIR insurance plan. The city will charge fees for those inspections.
The cost to make the inspector position full-time effective April 1, 2025, is $27,000 for three months, which will be absorbed into the fire department personnel budget. The ongoing annual cost will be about $115,000, which will be added to the next budget in June.
Fire Vehicle Maintenance
The council also approved an additional $95,000 in funding for maintenance of fire department vehicles.
El Cerrito resident Nick Zamorano advocated for fully funding the request, saying proper maintenance of emergency vehicles is essential for safety and will save money in the long run.
Supporting the fire expenditures, El Cerrito resident Marlene Keller said, “I thank you, this council, for each of your wonderful prudent, thoughtful questions about the budget and your care that the general funds are not misused but... What is the wild card that will destroy the city and its property tax base (and) kill people? …That is a catastrophic fire.”
Owner’s Rep for New Library Construction
The council approved spending $45,000 to hire Griffin Structures to conduct a “project delivery analysis” for construction of a new city library. “This effort will help validate the city’s current approach and inform decision-making, including conducting a high-level analysis of potential alternatives,” according to the March 4 agenda packet.
Although two residents spoke against building a new library at the Plaza BART Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), at least a dozen residents supported that library, or at least hiring a construction management firm to move forward with planning to build a new library.
Early in the meeting, El Cerrito residents Barbara Chan and Justin Chang spoke against building a new library at the Plaza station site.
“I’m not happy with the push to build the TOD Plaza library without hearing from the residents who want other options to be considered,” Chan said.
"Stand in Support"
Later in the meeting, El Cerrito resident Charles Taylor announced, “There are a group of good people who are here to stand now in support of the new library.” About 15 people wearing identical yellow badges stood up to show their support.
Taylor then asked the council to hire the construction management firm “whether for remodeling the current site or for a new Plaza Station Library.”
“El Cerrito needs and deserves a new library.” Taylor said.
Also advocating for hiring the consultant, El Cerrito resident and architect Ben Chuaqui said, “Among the things they could do are evaluate the issue of the existing site or the Plaza site and put that issue to rest. They could also get into detailed negotiations with the developer, prepare cost estimates, and request proposals from architects for the library. In my opinion, cities don’t have the expertise for a role like that. So I think it’s important to hire an outside person to take on this role.”
Mayor Carolyn Wysinger, after several speakers spoke in favor of hiring the consultant and building a new library, acknowledged that Library Commissioner Michael Fischer and long-time library supporter Tom Panas were present.
“I know that you all are responsible for getting all these folks out here to talk so much good about the need for a library,” Wysinger said. “I thank all of you for your words.”
Recreation Staff and Revenue
The city recreation department requested $225,000 in additional funding including $115,000 for additional childcare instructor time and childcare building repairs, $50,000 for Swim Center staffing costs due to changes in the city’s minimum wage, and $60,000 for youth program instructors due to higher program demand.
However, the increased cost will be more than offset by a revenue increase of $310,535.
Vice Mayor Gabe Quinto said there is no way he would vote to deny funding for the popular, revenue-generating recreation programs. He said parents count on them.
“This is something our new generation of homeowners expect,” Quinto said.
Other New Spending
Also approved from the general fund were:
· $60,000 for legal and investigative services related to a personnel matter
· $18,000 to the City Clerk for higher-than-expected election and records management costs.
Approved from special funds were:
· $29,700 this fiscal year and about $119,000 in future years from the Integrated Waste Fund for an additional full-time equivalent administrative assistant to support the recycling center
· $125,000 from the Measure J Storm Drain Fund, including $50,000 for work on the Storm Drain Master Plan and $75,000 for an urgent interim repair of a stormwater dissipator near the intersection of Wildcat Drive and Rifle Range Road.
Future Budget Planning
As for city finances, several council members said the city’s bank balance and its budget process have clearly improved.
Councilmember Lisa Motoyama thanked Reams and Coleman for being able to offer projections which were not available to the council a few years ago.
She asked whether the finance team could develop more of a “workshop” approach for discussing budget options.
"It would be nice to have both a worst-case and a best-case scenario so we can see the impact, the magnitude of change from different choices,” Motoyama said.
Councilmember Rebecca Saltzman and Vice Mayor Quinto said this is a time of economic uncertainty, and not just in El Cerrito.
“I think it will be important when we pass the budget in June to consider places we can either bring in more revenue or make small cuts,” Saltzman said.
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