New pothole teams, trash rate increase included in proposed Fresno city budget
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer is proposing a city budget amounting to $1.85 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins July 1, about $40 million more than the current year.
The 480-page document was released Thursday morning, just prior to the City Council meeting at City Hall.
The spending plan includes more than $480.5 million for city departments under the general fund – the pot of money from which most of the city’s day-to-day bills are paid. That represents a drop of almost $83 million, or about 14.7%, from this year.
Despite the decline in general fund spending, Dyer declared that his proposed budget “supports the foundation we serve on in Fresno, the One Fresno vision ... and supports the ‘We work for you’ culture.”
Dyer said one of the most visible projects in the budget that the public will notice, presuming it is ultimately approved by the City Council, is the inclusion of almost $1.8 million to establish new teams in the Public Utilities Department to fill potholes on city streets on a full-time basis.
“There are no dedicated pothole teams in Fresno,” Dyer said, noting the damage to streets that emerged this winter and spring as a result of a series of atmospheric river storms that soaked the central San Joaquin Valley.
The proposed pothole program not only includes money for new hires, but also new equipment for more durable hot-patch fill material.
In his presentation to the City Council, Dyer noted that among non-general fund programs, he expects that a rate increase will be necessary for the city Department of Public Utilities residential trash collection services, although the size of the increase was not specified.
“The solid waste division relies on a projected rate increase in 2024,” Dyer said, adding that the last time there was an increase in the trash collection rates charged to residents was in 2009.
In the interim, the division has depleted its reserve fund, deferred maintenance and left vacant positions, Dyer said. In the current year, he added, the division was “about $3 million in the red, which we had to make up” through reserve funds.
Rate increases for utilities are subject to a public process under state law that includes opportunities for residents to protest proposals for higher charges. “At some point we’re going to have to go through the public process ... to make a decision as we go forward,” Dyer said.
What each department is getting in the budget proposal
The spending proposals for various city general fund departments, counting all sources of revenue, are:
Police: $261.6 million, up 10.8% from the 2022-23 budget of $236.1 million.
Planning: Services: $231.9 million, up 15.5% from the 2022-23 budget of $200.8 million.
Fire: $127.6 million, up 25.4% from the 2022-23 budget of $101.8 million.
Personnel Services: $65.1 million, up $7.9% from the 2022-23 budget of $60.4 million.
City Attorney: $26.4 million, up 2.8% from the 2022-23 budget of $25.6 million.
Finance: $25.2 million, down 77.9% from the 2022-23 budget of $114.1 million.
General City Purpose: $15.7 million, down 77.2 million from the 2022-23 budget of $68.9 million.
Mayor/City Manager’s Office: $5.9 million, down 33.1% from the 2022-23 budget of $8.8 million.
City Council Offices: $5.1 million, down 40.6% from the 2022-23 budget of $8.5 million.=
City Clerk: $2.6 million, up 1.2% from the 2022-23 budget of almost $2.6 million.
Economic Development: $1.9 million, down 58% from the 2022-23 budget of $4.5 million.
Budget and Management: $1.6 million. This was not budgeted in 2022-23.
Among departments that are funded by special revenues, or are enterprise funds that are intended to be self-supporting through fees, proposed allocations include:
Special revenue funds
- PARCS (Parks, After-school,, Recreation & Community Services: $133.5 million, up 22% from the 2022-23 budget of $109.4 million.
- Public Works: $350.8 million, up 13.7% from the 2022-23 budget of $308.5 million.
Enterprise funds (self-sustaining)
- Public Utilities (water, sewer and trash collection): $398.6 million, up 14.3% from the 2022-23 budget of $340.8 million.
- Transportation (bus and transit services): $138.9 million, up 23.7% from the 2022-23 budget of $112.4 million.
- Airports: $124.1 million, down 25.7% from the 2022-23 budget of $167.0 million.
- Convention Center & Stadium: $17.2 million, up 7.7% from the 2022-23 budget of $15.9 million.
Internal service funds (providing services to other departments for reimbursement):
- General Services: $88.8 million, up 18.7% from the 2022-23 budget of $74.8 million.
- Information services: $37.1 million, up 12.9% from the 2022-23 budget of $32.9 million.
What comes next?
City Council members only received the budget at the same time it was released to the public, moments before Thursday’s council meeting.
The council’s wrangling over the budget will begin in earnest the week of June 5-8, when a series of public hearings on the spending plan will commence. This is expected to be when individual council members will present motions for add or subtract money to or from specific line items in the budget.
After the budget hearings, a council vote on the various motions – which have in previous years numbered in the dozens – is expected at the June 14 meeting, and a final vote on the budget is planned on June 22.
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 12:29 PM.
