Muristek
The Santa Barbara City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve the operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2023.
The budget includes a $156 million general fund budget and more than $300 million in capital projects.
The council voted in accordance with staff recommendations to adopt all budget resolutions.
Several items in the budget were voted on separately to allow Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilman Eric Friedman to recuse themselves. In those cases, the council voted 6-0 to approve the items.
Councilman Friedman recused himself from the vote on an item because it had the potential to affect his employer and source of income.
The 2021 and 2022 fiscal year budgets required expenditure reductions of $6.8 million each year in order to balance the budget. The 2023 fiscal year budget required an expenditure reduction of $1 million in order to balance the numbers.
“The revised deficit is approximately $1.1 million in the general fund, requiring the use of reserves, which was approved by the vote to approve the budget,” said Keith DeMartini, the city’s finance director, during the report to the council.
Public meetings about the budget, with the city council and its finance committee, began on March 10. During the June 8 meeting, city council gave budget revisions to the staff, who incorporated them into the final budget.
Staff have already begun to work on the priorities and initiatives in the budget and plan to include monthly financial reports that will be on the council’s consent calendar.
Quarterly reports will present an in-depth look at the trends of the city’s expenditures. There will be an estimated projection for the end of the fiscal year, to determine if mid-year adjustments are needed.
To see the budget, go to www.santabarbaraca.gov/budget.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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