Listen to this note:
This coming Monday, June 10, the Redwood City Council will consider the Recommended Budget for fiscal year 2024-25, and its adoption is anticipated on June 24, amidst economic uncertainty at the county and state levels.
City Administrator Melissa Stevenson Díaz said that the City Council is committed to supporting the needs of the community, while seeking to address the local structural budget deficit.
“The Recommended Budget reflects a careful balance between ensuring essential services and addressing our financial realities,” he noted.
The City Council explained that, through recurring budget commitments and more than $7 million in one-time special allocations, the Recommended Budget responds to priorities identified by residents.
In that sense, they detailed that, among these preponderances of the city are that of continuous investment in vital infrastructure projects such as: road repair, sidewalk maintenance and storm drainage infrastructure improvements.
In turn, sustained funding for public safety services to ensure the safety and well-being of residents, including maintaining current staffing levels for firefighters, paramedics and police officers.
Likewise, the preservation of essential community programs, including after-school and recreational programs for children, and maintenance of library hours and services.
To do this and as a best practice, the city develops a 10-year forecast to project future income and expenses.
And, for several years, they noted, the city has identified that current income does not meet the costs necessary to continue with the services provided and the updated forecast projects annual deficits of approximately 9.3 million dollars, a situation faced by various cities. of California and the Bay Area.
"We are a very agile organization that manages expenses carefully," said Stevenson Díaz. ?We have supported economic development and attracted millions of dollars in grants to help fund service and infrastructure needs. While those strategies will continue, more ongoing revenue is needed to maintain the services our community values.”
In November 2023, after months of study, the City Council authorized the exploration of a revenue measure for voter consideration, and since April 2024 Redwood City has been focused on a possible reform of the existing Business License Tax.
All Business License Tax revenues are legally required to remain in Redwood City; The key goals for a voter-approved restructuring of the Business License Tax are to increase funding for basic city services and reduce the tax burden on small business owners.
Outreach and stakeholder analysis are currently underway, and the City Council is expected to consider it in July.
“Without new revenue, the city will need to consider service reductions in future years,” Diaz said. "This could affect all the basic services the City provides, including public safety, youth and senior programs, library and park services," he stressed.
You may be interested in: San Mateo County records 2,130 homeless people in one-day count in 2024
