Overview:
The city of Richmond needs to finish its budget by the end of June, but city council discussions about the spending plan have taken longer than expected.
At a key meeting last night, staff had asked the council to vote on two possible budget scenarios: one that continues the balanced budget as it or one that incorporates a number of new projects that aren't yet funded.
But before a vote was taken, the mayor adjourned the meeting.
After weeks of repeatedly running out of time to discuss the 2026-27 city budget, the Richmond City Council scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to finally get the job done.
But despite only having that one task to accomplish over the course of a more than four-hour meeting, outgoing Mayor Eduardo Martinez abruptly adjourned the meeting without a vote that would have given city staff members the direction they said they needed to finalize a spending plan by the council’s June 16 meeting.
The city’s $275 million budget must be approved by June 30 before the city’s fiscal year ends, and in recent weeks various department heads have given presentations about their spending needs and challenges. But because recent council’s agendas have been so packed, some budget discussions haven’t taken place.
To complicate matters is the fact that the council and understaffed city departments are grappling with how to prioritize millions in unfunded projects and other obligations, such as its high pension obligation.
Tuesday’s meeting highlighted those tensions, as staff members told council members they simply don’t have enough employees to handle all the new projects that council members have added to their plate.
Outgoing mayor ends meeting with his gavel as questions linger
As the clock inched closer to 8 p.m., the meeting end time, Richmond City Council members were questioning city staff members, who cautioned that more than three dozen proposed projects that the council has given them since 2025 may need to be paused to allow them time to finish work they’ve already started.
“I think the discussion will be finished at 11 (p.m.) so I’ll extend (the meeting) until 11,” Martinez said, apparently in jest, as attendees laughed. No vote was taken to extend the meeting, though acting city attorney Shannone Moore said they were allowed to go passed the scheduled end time since the meeting was not a regular one.
But as District 1 council member Jamelia Brown then continued asking questions about how projects are prioritized, Martinez interrupted her, saying that the council needed to vote before 8 p.m.
“I have sat from 3:30 (p.m.) to 8 (p.m.) and heard everybody,” Brown shot back, as Martinez attempted to talk over her. “So I want to have a complete understanding and make an informed decision when I’m making my vote.”
“Well, we are now adjourned,” Martinez answered.
“You’re adjourned,” Brown responded, attempting to continue her questions.
“We are adjourned. I’m the chair,” Martinez said, punctuating his decision with a pound of his gavel and leaving the dais. “We’re done.”
Tuesday’s meeting was the first for Martinez since he was eliminated from the mayoral race in the June 2 primary election. He was the sole council incumbent to not win reelection that day while the mayoral race will be decided in a November runoff between the top vote-getters, council member Claudia Jimenez and Ahmad Anderson.
The chaotic exchange at the meeting’s end crowned what multiple city officials described as a “difficult” conversation about council initiatives and programs and whether city staff has the bandwidth to make those hopes and dreams a reality.
City staff had asked the council to vote for two options: Option 1, continue the current balanced budget with a 12% staff vacancy, with no new projects beyond what the city is already committed to doing; or Option 2, rebalance a reprioritized budget that would include council-mandated projects and find a way to pay for them.
Emily Combs, city finance director, said that there is more than $13 million in proposed capital improvement plan project shortfalls, including the $2.2 million E-Bike Lending Library, $1 million for the Point Molate S.F. Bay Trail and $1.1 million for the Richmond Wellness Trail. In total, staff said there are 37 unfunded projects worth $60 million on the capital projects list.
In addition to deciding what to do about the unfunded programs, staff has also recommended the council focus on four priorities in the coming year, including finishing major parks projects at Boorman and Wendell; finding a new wastewater vendor as the current contract with Veolia is set to expire in 2027; revamping city processes for efficiency; and preparing for advance life support (ALS) program and fire station improvements for the Richmond Fire Department.
Last month, the council asked Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio to lead an effort to poll voters on whether or not they’d support a ballot measure to fund the ALS system and improvements to stations which are outdated and, in some cases, not structurally sound though Osorio cautioned that the city would still need to set money aside to hire and maintain staff levels for the ALS program.
“If the council wishes to advance these projects in 26-27, Option 2 is the mechanism to do that,” Combs told the council. “But it also requires identifying where those resources would come from.”
Staff suggested that if the council chooses Option 2, $6 million in “discretionary” funds would have to come from funds such as the Black Resiliency Fund, immigration services and Reimagining Public Safety’s Youthworks and unhoused intervention efforts to help pay for high-priority council projects facing budget shortfalls. For example, $2.9 million is needed to finish the Shields-Reid and Wendell park improvements, the Wellness Trail and the Bay Trail at Point Molate.
Discretionary funds are defined by the city as money not currently committed to contracts, life and safety expenses or money for staffing and material to perform the work.
City manager says no one can be hired unless workers retire
When District 6 council member Claudia Jimenez asked how many positions the city would need to fill to accomplish the council’s desired projects, Curl said that, because of labor costs and impending contacts with the police department, the city cannot hire any more staff unless it has more retirements.
“The labor costs have continued to increase,” Curl said. “When we had 92 less staff people (in 2021), we were at about $27 million (in pension obligations) and you can see even with the returns doing really well, it’s increasing astronomically. So what that means is that the city’s costs for our personnel are increasing exponentially so we can no longer continue to hire unless there’s a retirement.”
Curl added that, though the city has seen budget surpluses in recent years, finance department staff have said don’t expect that to continue with the new employee contracts being negotiated.
“The budget is an envelope. Things can always change,” Curl said. “Currently finance staff is projecting that we will not have a significant amount of unspent dollars.
Curl also said that because the council’s policy is to have 21% in reserves, the city may not end up with any unspent funds in the next fiscal year. She also added that it would not be prudent to spend the $1.8 million in interest accrued from the first payment of the 10-year, $550 million Chevron settlement from 2025.
“I think the question that we’re trying to get to as staff is, are there some things that the city council wants us to focus on and do really well, right, while we’re seeing how our numbers continue to come together?” Curl said. “And there are some things that are key council initiatives that we actually don’t need the money for right now.”
Curl acknowledged that all of the proposed council initiatives are important but some will not be ready to start in the next six months. That means that, if the council decides to continue as is, leaving positions vacant and pausing on new projects, the money could be used to finish current projects.
“So, since we know we have these four projects that have a shortfall, should we go ahead and fund those, get those complete? And then the council can work through how you want to prioritize your 37 key initiatives and the fiscal allocations associated with that,” Curl said.
