Elk Grove officials preview budget for next fiscal year. Where will the money go?
Elk Grove has proposed nearly $500 million in spending over the next two fiscal years in budgets that emphasize key city projects, public safety and economic development amid a waning pandemic.
City budget officials last week previewed a proposed $272 million budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year for city leaders and projected a 2022-23 budget of $226 million. The Elk Grove City Council will consider adopting the 2021-22 budget at a public hearing June 9.
The proposed budget is “a recognition of the rough year everybody’s had with COVID and the cuts that were made,” City Manager Jason Behrmann told council members last week, adding that Elk Grove has “navigated and done better than some when it comes to COVID economic impact.”
City officials say money in the proposed 2021-22 budget will go to hire more police officers, lift a city hiring freeze that had been set to last into 2022-23, boost economic development programs, including its small business support and business recruitment programs, and cushion against the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city will also stash cash away in its reserves and continue to pay down CalPERS pension obligations.
Meantime, Elk Grove continues its focus on the center-city The Preserve at District 56 park and recreation project and improvements to its Old Town Plaza in the city’s historic downtown, both expected to be completed this year.
The budgets show double-digit decreases from 2020-21 as Elk Grove’s transit system, recently annexed by Sacramento Regional Transit District, joins RT on July 1; and as a number of projects planned and budgeted for 2021-22 will soon be completed.
The budget “reflects signs of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Behrmann’s budget overview read.
Surprising signs of a recovery came this spring with higher-than-expected sales tax revenue projections on strong performance out of sales at Elk Grove Auto Mall — auto sales are responsible for nearly a third of the city’s sales tax revenue each year — and the city’s hot home construction sector. Both sectors continued unabated during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The nearly $22 million in federal American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief funds headed to the city over the next two years is not part of the proposed budget.
City finance officials say that money is expected to be allocated later this summer.
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