Fresno passes a record $1.87 billion budget for 2023-24. Why residents might be chipping in

Some Fresno city departments including police, fire and parks/recreation are getting significant increases in their budgets in the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins July 1. But it’s going to take a sizable bump in the rates residents pay for trash collection to balance the books for another major department.

In a unanimous vote Thursday, the Fresno City Council approved the record $1.87 billion spending plan hammered out in recent weeks with Mayor Jerry Dyer. Together, the mayor and council hailed the agreement as a success in cooperation and compromise.

Dyer initially presented his proposed budget for $1.85 billion to the City Council in mid-May. But over the course of budget hearings in the first week of June, council members proposed more than 140 budget motions for their own priorities, of which the council later approved about 120 – wish lists that collectively added up to another $157 million.

Eight days of meetings and negotiations between Dyer’s administrative team and the council’s budget committee of Council President Tyler Maxwell, Vice President Annalisa Perea and Councilmember Mike Karbassi eventually culminated in the spending package approved Thursday.

“Although we differ at times, when it comes down to the important things, we agree,” Dyer said. “As a result, we were able to fully or partially fund 78 of the (council) motions that were made.”

The unanimous approval “is a celebration for us who have been through this meat grinder,” Dyer added. “And speaking of grinding meat, there was an awful lot of sausage being made in the back room over the last week. But we got it done.”

“Balancing a $150 million budget discrepancy is a very difficult process as you try to fit as many council priorities as you can into the budget with very limited resources,” Maxwell said. “While no council member, including myself, got every item they asked for in the final budget, this is still a budget that every council member can and should be extremely proud of.”

The 2023-24 budget reflects an increase of $59.3 million over the 2022-23 spending plan.

“This collaboration showcases the immense potential that lies within the collective efforts of leaders who put aside their differences and work together toward achieving a shared goal,” Perea said. “It demonstrates that when we set aside partisan politics and prioritize the well-being of a community, we can achieve remarkable outcomes.”

Which departments are getting more money?

The Fresno Police Department’s budget for 2023-24 is set at almost $262 million, an increase of $25.8 million over the current year. It includes money to boost the department to a total of 900 officers – the largest number in the city’s history.

Similarly, the Fresno Fire Department is getting a budget increase of more than $25.8 million; the total of $127.6 million will grow its ranks to a record 375 firefighters.

An even bigger increase of $33.7 million is coming to the city’s Parks, After-School, Recreation and Community Services, or PARCS, department. The 2023-24 budget for the department is $261.9 million. The budget, Dyer said, makes “unprecedented investments in our parks, trails and community centers” with revenue coming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and the city’s own Measure P sales tax for parks improvements.

Other departments in line for significantly bigger budgets are:

• Public Works: $358.9 million, an increase of about $50.5 million over the 2022-23 budget.

• Planning/Development: $232.4 million, an increase of about $31.5 million over 2022-23.

• FAX/Transit: $138.9 million, an increase of $26.6 million over 2022-23.

In his budget proposal in May, Dyer had included $6.7 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to be set aside for a new police headquarters to replace the facility at M and Fresno streets in downtown Fresno. “At the 11th hour … we took $3.2 million of that” to provide money for street, sidewalk and other infrastructure needs in each of the seven City Council districts, Dyer said.

The budget also includes formation of teams within the public works department that will respond to residents’ complaints about potholes with more durable hot-patch material. But Dyer said that doesn’t solve chronic deterioration of city streets.

“This budget process highlighted something I believe we all know: We have a shortage of dedicated and sustained funding for our roads, our sidewalks, our curb and gutters,” Dyer said. “In fact, we are about $1.2 billion behind when you add all of those infrastructure needs up in our city.”

While there are state gas tax funds, and a share of money from Fresno County’s Measure C sales tax supplement for transportation, Dyer said much more is needed to catch up and keep up.

Rate increase will be proposed to stem trash collection deficit

Dyer said his administration will be proposing a rate increase for the solid waste division of the city’s Public Utilities Department. The approved budget for the department is $388.7 million – the largest budget of any city department. That’s about $48 million more than the current 2022-23 budget.

But, Dyer added, “we are operating at a deficit” in the solid waste division, forcing the city to keep “hundreds of vacancies” open and deferring maintenance and delaying purchases of new trucks and equipment.

“This budget is built, starting in January, for a rate increase,”he said. “We want to try to lessen the impact on ratepayers the first year and smooth that out over a three- to five-year period.”

How much that rate increase would be – and whether it can survive a process required under state law for residents to object to the increase – remains unclear.

“We will be coming back at a later time to initiate that process,” Dyer said. “We’re being very thoughtful in terms of how we proceed because we know there are people that will be financially impacted by it.”

Fresno’s current monthly charge for basic trash service for single-family homes is $25.37 per month for weekly garbage, recycling and green-waste collection, according to the city’s master list of fees. For seniors age 62 and older, the rate is $21.80 per month.

In May, Dyer said the solid waste division experienced a deficit of about $3 million this year. Without a rate increase, he added, that deficit would be expected to balloon to as much as $15 million.

According to internal documents provided to City Council members in February, several options were under consideration at that time by city administrators for possible rate models for trash collection. Those included:

• Option A, maintaining current residential operations and staffing, and not including a move of street sweeping to Public Utilities from the Department of Public Works: $36.66 per month in the 2023-24 fiscal year, an increase of $11.29 from the current rate, with subsequent increases of $1.10 per month in 2024-25, $1.13 in 2025-26, 78 cents in 2026-27, and 79 cents in 2027-28. The total rate after five years by 2027-28 would be $40.46 per month — an increase of about 59.5% over the current rate.

• Option B, maintaining current operations and including current levels of street sweeping: $37.93 per month, an increase of $12.56 from the current rate, with subsequent increases of $1.14 per month in 2024-25, $1.17 per month in 2025-26, 80 cents in 2026-27, and 82 cents in 2027-28. The new rate after five years would be $41.86 per month — an increase of about 65% over the current rate.

• Option C, maintaining current operations and staffing and an increased level of street sweeping: $38.18 per month, an increase of $12.81 from the current rate, with subsequent increases of $1.15 per month in 2024-25; $1.18 per month in 2025-26, 81 cents per month in 2026-27, and 83 cents per month in 2027-28. The rate by 2027-28 would be $42.15 per month — an increase of about 66.1% over the current rate.

“We don’t know the final numbers yet, but internally we’re having those discussions,” Dyer told reporters Thursday. “I’m going to meet with council (members) first. They have a right to know before others so we can come up with a final number at some point that we all feel comfortable with.”