Pleasanton cuts $6.3 million from budget due to coronavirus

The city of Pleasanton agreed to cut $6.3 million from its operating budget due to the shelter-in-place order because of the coronavirus.

PLEASANTON — As cities grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place order, the city of Pleasanton approved a budget with $6.3 million less than originally anticipated.

The city estimated that its general fund reserves would be cut by $6.3 million, less than they thought when City Council approved a mid-year budget on March 3, just two weeks before the shelter-in-place order went into place countywide. On Wednesday night in a special virtual council meeting, council unanimously approved of the midyear operating budget with the millions in cuts.

“What strikes me about this, while it’s not the best news, we are probably better off than most cities,” due to the city’s fiscal conservatism, said Vice Mayor Kathy Narum.

The shelter-in-place order meant the city library, recreation facilities and recreation programs had to close as they weren’t considered an “essential business.” A reduction also occurred in maintenance, planning and permitting efforts.

In order to balance the budget, the council agreed to reverse the $1 million surplus allocations that was going to capitol improvement program and repair and to the replacement funds (another $980,000). The normal transfer to the capitol improvement program, which includes city projects for streets, parks, utility and public facilities, was also cut, totaling $2.4 million.

The city will also reduce expenditures by around $1.8 million. The city has been saving with cancelled city programs, closed city facilities, cancelled training and conferences and reduced maintenance fees.

Even with the cuts, City Council also unanimously agreed to give $100,000 from the capitol improvement project reserves to support a COVID-19 mobile testing site, slated to be opened at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, in partnership with Stanford Valley Care. The funds will go toward purchasing test swabs and other lab materials for testing people suspected of having COVID-19. The funding could be eligible for FEMA reimbursement, according to the city.

City Manager Nelson Fialho told council that the testing site will serve East Alameda County, and will look different than similar testing site conducted at the Valley Care facility, which requires a doctors note to be tested. The site is expected to open in the next several weeks, he said.

Fialho said he’ll also update the council on the budget at the end of May or early June with “best case, middle case and worst case scenarios.”

The city is also looking to recent introduced legislation, the Coronavirus Community Relief Act, which could give direct aid to local governments with populations of less than 500,000.