Pleasanton Approves $6.3M Budget Cuts, Coronavirus Testing Unit

PLEASANTON, CA — The Pleasanton City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night a revised budget with $6.3 million in cuts, Bay Area News Group reported. The cuts come as the city attempts to grapple with the economic fallout of the new coronavirus.

The city anticipates revenues will drop by $6.3 million this fiscal year as fewer people buy things and book hotels, recreation facilities and programs are closed, and development services fees drop. Expenditure estimates fell by $1.8 million, the city wrote in a report to the council.

The council adopted its first budget on March 3, before Alameda County residents began sheltering in place March 16, council records show.

"There is speculation that the current worldwide shutdown of travel and much of commercial activity will result in a recession, the length and magnitude of which is unclear," wrote Pleasanton Director of Finance Tina Olson in the report to the council.

The $6.3 million cut assumes a:

• $3 million drop in sales tax revenue for 2½ months
• $1.5 million drop in hotel/motel tax revenues for 2½ months
• $985,683 drop in recreation revenues for 2½ months
• $787,000 drop in development service fees for 2 months

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But despite the anticipated cuts, the city said its conservative budgeting and practice of putting surplus funding toward reserves "provides flexibility in addressing revenue shortfalls without decreasing critical City services," Olson wrote.

The council also voted to take $100,000 from the capital improvement projects reserve fund and use the money to support a mobile COVID-19 testing unit, in collaboration with Stanford Valley Care, Bay Area News Group reported. The expenses should be eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Looking For Ways To Save

The city hopes to save $2.9 million from: canceled city programs, events, training and conferences; reduced repair and maintenance; and facility closures, city records show.

The city reversed its March 3 decision to allocate $980,923 in surplus funding to its repairs and replacements fund, council records show. The money is slotted to be spent on repair and maintenance needs this year.

Pleasanton is looking to balance its budget by reversing a $1 million surplus allocation to the capital improvement project fund that was approved March 3. The new budget plans to cut another $2.4 million in transfers to the capital improvement project fund, reducing the fund's reserves from $10.2 million to $7.8 million, city records show.

Pleasanton crafted its new budget under the assumption that the shelter-in-place order would be extended through May 31 and based on conservative estimates, given the uncertainty about how the coronavirus response will play out in weeks to come.

See more at the San Jose Mercury News.

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