The Santa Barbara City Council will hold a special meeting today for a budget work session for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
Council members will meet at 2 p.m. at the Carrillo Recreation Center, 100 E. Carrillo St.
The council will hear a presentation from staff related to the development of the budgets for the fiscal years, then provide direction to staff on how to proceed.
On June 14, 2022, the council’s Finance Committee received a report regarding the purpose, scope and timeline of the Fiscal Sustainability Initiative, where an overview of the major fiscal and budgetary challenges were discussed, staff said in their report.
“Revenue options and operational and process improvement working groups were established to develop recommendations and solutions to ensure the city continues to meet the needs of the Santa Barbara community now and for many years to come,” staff said.
Since then, the Community Development, Parks and Recreation, and Library departments presented a “deep dive” financial review of their operation including challenges and opportunities.
The Housing Authority also presented an overview to the Finance Committee.
Vision 2030 was then introduced to the Finance Committee as the communication framework of the Fiscal Sustainability Initiative.
“This effort positions the city as a leader in smarter, proactive government, ensuring the city is sustainable, and the community is thriving,” staff said.
In late April, City Administrator Rebecca Bjork will present her recommended budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 to the council as required by the city charter. This will be followed by a number of public hearings during which each department will present its respective budget to the council and the public.
This budget work session is held in advance of finalizing and issuing the recommended budget to provide the council and the public an overview of the city’s finances.
Staff will provide an overview of recent Vision 2030 initiatives, including working group updates regarding process improvements and revenue strategies.
In addition, staff will provide the council with a summary of the recent revenue trends, projected costs and a long-term forecast of the city’s finances.
Staff will then present the budget instructions that were issued to departments to guide the development of department budget proposals.
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