The Abridged version:
- Layoffs for city employees, cuts to police, fire, public parks and community centers and impacts to the city’s 311 call center are on the table as the city looks to stave off a budget deficit.
- Higher fees for parking and animal services are also being considered to increase revenues.
- The city’s finance director is considering three scenarios to help the city close its $66.2 million shortfall it faces for the 2026-2027 budget.
Layoffs, significant cuts to police, fire and parks and community centers, and increased parking fees are all on the table as the city of Sacramento looks to close a $66.2 million gap in its upcoming budget.
The city’s finance director released a first look at different scenarios under consideration as leaders look to balance the upcoming 2026-2027 budget. The Sacramento City Council is set weigh in on the budget challenges at their meeting next Tuesday.
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A wide range of layoffs across all city departments are outlined in the budget proposal, as well as reducing the amount of services at some city counters and maintenance for city parks.
City spokesperson Jennifer Singer, in a written statement, said next week’s meeting agenda “includes a full menu of budget-balancing strategies.”
“These materials reflect options, not final decision or an adopted list of cuts,” Singer said.
Councilmember Roger Dickinson, chair of the council’s Budget and Audit Committee, said that he hopes to avoid any layoffs during the budget discussions.
“The last resort is looking at raising fees and charges to people,” Dickinson said.
Three scenarios outlined to balance budget
The council is set to weigh in on three different “scenarios” that dictate how the city could close it’s budget deficit.
Under one scenario, only a small portion of city departments would foot 56% of the cost-saving measures needed to close the budget hole. The city’s police, fire, economic development and homelessness response programs would be spared from cuts. The bulk of the cuts spread across the city’s Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment department, as well as its IT and Community Development departments.
The report says this scenario could see a closure of neighborhood pools and community centers. Parks would also take a hit, with some that “would not be maintained to safe standards,” if they don’t have a special financing district.
The second scenario calls for an 11.6% cost reduction spread across all departments, with the most savings coming from city’s fire and police departments.
Cuts under that scenario could “potentially include” eliminating the violent crime reduction teams, the internet crimes against children team and traffic enforcement teams, as well as reductions to dispatch and burglary units, according to a city staff report.
The third scenario would retool how much each department depends on the city’s General Fund and Measure U sales tax dollars. City leaders would further “define” what the city’s core services are, and move forward with preserving those as much as possible.
The budget reductions range in severity. Under the “Level 1” reductions, the parks department would only see two staff cuts. The police department, for example, wouldn’t see any layoffs but would see five officer and dispatcher positions turn into less-costly administrative positions
Under the “Level 4” reductions, however, over 350 city-paid jobs are at risk. Those cuts could include up to 150 police positions, including officers and higher-ranked positions. Cuts to the parks department could span up to 127 jobs and see access to local pools and community centers restricted to only three days per week.
The highest level of reductions also include cutting up to 55 positions in the fire department, plus significant cuts to the the city’s information technology systems. The city’s 311 services “would be at risk,” according to the report.
Troubles could persist over the next four years
Sacramento’s budget troubles are projected to continue, and grow, for the next four budget cycles. The latest budget documents note that the city forecasts an $81.8 million deficit in 2027-2028, a $99.4 million deficit in 2028-2029 and a $102.1 million deficit in 2029-2030.
The city is currently in a structural deficit, which means the city’s baseline expenditures exceed its revenues.
Up to 12 staff layoffs were on the table last year, before the city adopted it’s current budget. Those layoffs were avoided, however, through the elimination of 80 vacant positions plus increases to parking revenue.
In January, City Manager Maraskeshia Smith told Abridged “you can’t cut your way out of 60 million.”
“80% of the city’s budget is personnel, so either you have to look at vacant positions or you have to maybe look at potential layoffs,” Smith said.
To eventually navigate the city out of it’s structural deficit, Smith is looking to bolster the city’s economic prospects to grow the city’s “economic pie.” She said she’s looking to incoming developments, like the downtown Railyards development, to help fill the gap.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.