Yuba City OKs $41 million budget
The Yuba City City Council this week approved a $41 million general fund budget for the coming fiscal year, with the heftiest chunk allocated for public safety.
The 2017-18 budget is the biggest Yuba City budget in history, passing the 2016-17 budget of $39.9 million in proposed revenues and $40.1 million in expenses.
Public safety is allocated 61 percent of budgeted expenditures, split between police ($14.1 million) and fire ($11.3 million). Also budgeted: $3.7 million for community services (which includes administration, supervision, parks maintenance, the senior center, aquatics and recreation programs); $2.7 million toward financial/information technology; $1.2 million for development services (planning and building); $1 million for administration; $0.9 million toward human resources; and $1.8 million toward “other.”
City Manager Steve Kroeger said keeping the public safe while maintaining community assets is a common goal city to city.
“So it comes with little surprise that the majority of our budget is dedicated to funding public safety services and maintaining our infrastructure,” Kroeger said in an email Wednesday. “In Yuba City’s case, we complement these goals with a focus on economic development, improving our quality of life through quality development, and training our staff to provide great customer service to the community.”
The proposed budget for revenues is $41,570,100; total expenditures are $41,343,565.
Finance Director Robin Bertagna said during a special budget workshop in May that taxes continue to be Yuba City’s number one revenue source for the general fund, bringing in $28,886,500 in the 2016-17 budget and projected to bring in $29,659,100 in the upcoming fiscal year.
The largest expenditures go toward employee salaries and benefits, projected to cost $32,059,181 in the approved budget.
The retirement system CalPERS remains the city’s biggest challenge moving forward, officials said. Though the city eliminated $1.2 million in expense from the budget by paying off one pension obligation bond, rate increases are weighing heavily.
In fiscal year 2016-17, the city’s CalPERs costs were about $6.5 mil- lion and are projected to grow to $12.75 million by fiscal year 2023, Bertagna said. The projected increases, she said, are caused by CalPERS phasing in a lowered discount rate from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. What that means, she said, is that CalPERS is projecting to earn less on its investments over a long period of time.
"The city’s revenues simply cannot keep pace with this,” Bertagna said in an email. “Therefore, the city will need to look at the manner in which services are provided and what services are provided. The specifics of what this means to our community would be developed through City Council policy direction and input from community members.”
Health expenses are also on the rise, putting pressure on future budgets, according to Bertagna.
“Health premiums continue to pressure Yuba City budgets,” Bertagna said during the workshop. “They’re growing faster than inflation.”
The premiums are forecast to grow an additional $1.5 million by fiscal year 2022, she said.
The city’s Public Works – water and wastewater – budget is separate and not included in these numbers. Marysville office, 1530 Ellis Lake Drive Business hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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