Berkeley City Council Passes Budget Making Historic Investments in Infrastructure and Community Safety
BERKELEY–Last night the Berkeley City Council voted to approve the City Budget for the next two years (Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024). Highlights of the budget include $34 million on capital projects and $10 million to fully fund police and the city’s historic efforts to reimagine public safety through violence prevention, youth, and mental health services. The budget also makes allocations to support small businesses and residents alike struggling to avoid eviction post pandemic.
“We are making important investments that reflect this community’s priorities while bolstering our reserves for a rainy day,” said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín. “Investing in street repairs and community safety aren’t just the basics, they’re the aspects of government that most impact the daily life of Berkeley residents.”
Much of the city’s infrastructure has reached the end of its useful lifespan, requiring replacements and upgrades, making a major council priority investing in green and resilient capital improvements. Vision 2050 provides a long-term plan to build, upgrade, and repair our infrastructure to be more sustainable and resilient in order to meet the challenges we face in the future, including climate change. While a lot of this work will require approval of a revenue generating measure that will be placed on the November ballot, the Council invested $34 million in various infrastructure projects.
With gas prices at an all-time high and the need to end our reliance on cars powered by fossil fuels, the City Council chose to invest in alternative forms of transportation including $1.15 million for vehicle charging stations for city vehicles to accelerate our transition to zero emissions. $1 million will also be allocated over the next two years for low-carbon transit and mobility infrastructure, such as bike lanes and pedestrian safety upgrades. Additional funding will be provided for bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects, as highlighted in the Bicycle Plan and Pedestrian Plan.
Over $34 million will be spent on various capital projects over the next two years. About half of this will be for street paving and maintenance, to meet the city’s commitment to prevent further deterioration of road conditions. Other highlights include replacement of waterfront pilings at the marina, repairs at the Telegraph/Channing Garage, funding for various ADA projects, multiple traffic calming projects, and installation of solar panels/battery systems at fire stations.
“This is an historic investment in paving to ensure long-term resiliency of our streets and improved safety for people driving and biking,” added Mayor Arreguín.
Two years ago, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and rallies throughout the country for public safety reform, including in Berkeley, the City embarked on a process to reimagine public safety.
“Berkeley needs an adequately trained and appropriately staffed police department to serve our community, deter crime through foot patrols and visibility, and respond after a crime has occurred,” said Mayor Arreguín. “To reimagine public safety and do it safely we have to address historic inequities while managing increasing public safety expenditures. Berkeley is achieving that by managing overtime and getting police out of the business of responding to incidents that don’t require a badge and a gun, all while making investments in strategies that prevent crime from happening in the first place.”
On May 5, 2022, the Council voted to move forward on a series of recommendations. This was based upon the significant work made by the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force - a diverse group of local residents and experts who were tasked with developing recommendations for a new and transformative model of positive, equitable and community centered safety for Berkeley.
The FY 23-24 City Budget includes over $10 million dollars in appropriations to make these approved recommendations a reality. Including:
$300,000 for the development of the Berkeley Department of Transportation (BerkDOT), consolidating our transportation planning, engineering and enforcement into one civilian department, including the potential for civilian traffic enforcement.
$200,000 will be spent on an analysis of our dispatch center to help improve our response to public safety calls including police, fire and EMS.
$700,000 will be allocated to mental health services, including support for a city-run mental health center at Berkeley High School. Funds will also be used for additional staffing, which is critical for increasing community engagement and expanding capabilities of addressing public safety goals.
$250,000 will go towards a design process for a Department of Community Safety, an umbrella agency that will be the future of addressing the city’s public safety and emergency response.
The City will also be funding upstream investments in our youth, violence prevention and domestic violence services including an allocation of $210,000 in violence prevention and youth services, fully funding Project Ceasefire and also funding non-criminal alternatives to citations and traffic sanctions and fines.
Like every community, Berkeley has had to overcome adversity over the last couple of years. When the COVID-19 shelter in place order took effect, the City took immediate action to provide financial support to residents, businesses, and arts organizations who were economically impacted. To prevent homelessness, $1 million will be allocated towards the Housing Retention Program, which provides rental assistance to those who are unable to keep up with rent payments. An additional $1.8 million will be spent over the next two years on various anti-displacement programs including emergency rental assistance, legal representation and flexible housing funds for the homeless.
These allocations will be funded by Measure P, a tax on property sales or transfers worth at least $1.5 million approved by Berkeley voters in 2018. $300,000 will be used to review and develop a social housing policy, thanks to funding from Measure U1, a gross receipts tax on large apartment buildings to support affordable housing and homeless prevention programs. As businesses continue to recover, $1 million will be allocated for small business rental and legal support, including a grant program for small businesses (less than 50 employees).
“I want to thank the City Manager, the Finance Department, and the Office of Budget and Fiscal Management for their efforts to make sure that our budget is balanced despite revenues still rebounding to pre-pandemic levels,” said Mayor Arreguín. “As we close this multi-month and intensive budget process, I also want to express appreciation to the members of the community who have been involved in the dozens of budget meetings. I value your input on this important process and am committed to receiving your insights to make sure our budget reflects our needs and values.”
Under the City Charter, the Council must approve a balanced budget before July 1st, the start of the new fiscal year. Adopting the biennial budget is one of the most important decisions as it determines the city services, programs and projects which will be implemented each year. You can explore the proposed budget in full by reviewing the documents on the June 28th Council agenda (items 44 and 45).
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