Elk Grove poised to pass new budget focused on public safety, homeless, housing

Elk Grove leaders are poised to approve a new $348 million budget Wednesday with more money for police and to tackle homelessness, a spending plan boosted by a new sales tax hike and casino revenue.

It’s a $54 million increase from last year’s spending blueprint on the strength of $22 million in new revenue from last fall’s voter-approved Measure E sales tax increase and another $4 million in fees from the Wilton Rancheria tribe and its Sky River Casino along with unspent money carried over from last year’s budget for ongoing capital improvement projects.

Those priority projects include the city’s planned Project Elevate retail, dining and entertainment development and ongoing efforts to bring a new, expanded Sacramento Zoo to Elk Grove; completion of the Railroad Street improvements and an upcoming city library branch in its historic Old Town; the Kammerer Road widening project as part of the greater Capital Southeast Connector project and a city-wide traffic congestion management plan.

“It’s a big document, with a lot of funds, a lot of complexities to it — there’s a lot of good stuff in there,” Elk Grove City Manager Jason Behrmann told the council in a late May budget preview.

The 2023-24 spending plan checks off a slate of oft-stated city priorities of both city leaders and residents, with its focus on public safety and homelessness, affordable housing and economic development.

Among the highlights:

More police — 23 new hires, more than half of the city’s 42 new positions. All but four of the 23 police positions are paid for by Measure E, including new problem-oriented and homeless outreach officers, motorcycle officers and emergency dispatchers.

Youth services officers and a community prosecutor as part of a contract agreement with Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office will also come aboard in the new budget.

“That’s a lot,” Behrmann said in May. “(Measure E) is going to have a significant impact on our ability to fight crime and keep our community safe. But it’s going to take time, he added estimating that the additions could take “the totality of the year or maybe the following year.”

Elk Grove residents last fall voted to impose Measure E’s 1% sales tax increase on the promise of more police on the streets, faster emergency response and more resources to address homelessness in the city.

“We’re keeping our promise to the voters — the voters who approved Measure E,” Elk Grove City Councilman Kevin Spease said in May. “I’m happy to see things that will improve safety, not just for residents but for (police) officers as well.”

Money for additional unhoused resources including homeless navigators and interim shelter options; improved access to mental health services, transitional housing support and two new city-owned sites set aside for affordable housing, Behrmann said.

The spending will be under a spotlight as Elk Grove’s legal battles with the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta over affordable housing head for a court fight and with memories of last winter’s struggles in standing up its overnight shelter program still fresh.

A balanced budget is projected through the next five years. Both revenues and spending are expected to rise over the next five years, Behrmann told the council in the May preview.

Home and auto sales remain strong in Elk Grove and debt service at 6% remains low while sales and property tax revenue — two of the city’s leading and most reliable economic drivers — are also expected to hold steady or rise during that span.

Behrmann cautioned the projections do not take recession into account, but with more than $21 million socked away in rainy day funds to gird against economic uncertainty, “we have the ability to pivot, to make reductions and changes” to future budgets.

“That’s what a reserve allows a city to do — it gives us time to plan. You can weather the storm,” Behrmann said.

The city’s piggy bank also includes another $5 million banked in an “opportunity reserve” that can be tapped for “projects, acquisitions or unforeseen events.”

“We’ve placed ourselves in a very strong position” with the budget plan and additional Measure E revenue, city Councilman Rod Brewer said in May. “As long as we continue to exercise prudence, we’ll be fine.”