Sacramento’s budget deficit could lead to fewer police positions and increased parking rates
The city of Sacramento’s $44 million budget deficit has forced department leaders to propose ways to decrease their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.
The city’s budget, policy and strategic planning division published a list of these reductions strategies Friday, which will guide the council in its process to balance the budget in the coming months. Each department was asked to suggest ways to enhance revenues and reduce their budgets by 15% for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The estimates are wide-ranging and are ranked from Level 1 or “low impact” to Level 4 or “severe impact.”
If fully implemented, the first two levels of reduction strategies would save the city an estimated $20 million, lead to roughly 17 layoffs and eliminate more than 100 unfilled positions. These strategies include ending the Police Department’s acoustic gunshot detection system and reducing the City Council’s expense budget for catering and snacks.
Among the most “severe impact” reduction strategies are to cut 80 full-time positions from the Fire Department, 23 positions from the park maintenance division and 16 positions from the Police Department’s communication center.
These cuts would hurt the department’s priority of maintaining its resources for safe and effective service, said Dan Wiseman, a police spokesperson.
“While we will always work to provide the best service possible, having the right tools and staffing levels is critical to maintaining public safety and meeting the needs of our community,” Wiseman said in an email statement.
Councilmember Roger Dickinson said his preference is to choose strategies that have minimal effect on city employees, meaning reductions that don’t result in layoffs.
“The deeper you go, the more draconian the cuts would be, if we have to get to Level 3 or Level 4,” Dickinson said on Friday. “They are reductions that the public would find very difficult to to embrace, as well as the council for that matter.”
Last year, the city resolved the budget deficit without layoffs. None of the council members have committed to the same outcome this year.
“I don’t know if that’s going to be possible (this year),” Dickinson said.
City department leaders have reiterated that reductions in their budgets would assuredly affect services.
“There’s no position that is an overage in this job,” said Brian Pedro, director for the Department of Community Response, on Monday. “Everybody is task saturated and with all the programs that we have and everything we’re trying to do.”
The department’s only significant proposed reduction strategy is listed as a Level 4 and would decrease nearly $4 million in homeless shelter funding. Pedro said he did not expect any “major reductions” at his department come July, citing support from city.
Mayor Kevin McCarty declined to comment on the potential reduction strategies, citing the early stages of the budget process.
The proposed revenue enhancement strategies, which add up to $20 million, will also need to be carefully considered, Dickinson said. These include increasing parking meter rates and fees for older adult services programs. The council raised fees for recreational programs last year to balance its budget.
“The cumulative impact of raising fees for the use of facilities or services does have to be a consideration,” Dickinson said.
The City Council continues to receive bi-weekly presentations from every department. These reports highlight the duties of each department, revenue enhancement strategies, potential reductions and the effects of those cutbacks.
The next presentations will take place at 2 p.m. March 18 and feature the Police Department, Fire Department and Department of Community Response.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to clarify Sgt. Dan Wiseman’s statement regarding the Police Department’s priorities.
