Concord adds staff, boosts road work thanks to budget surplus

CONCORD, CA (Mar. 29, 2022) — The City Council made one-time allocations to improve city services, aid the homeless, and repair roads and infrastructure at the March 8 meeting.

The funding was the result of a $10.5 million General Fund residual and a $3.6 million residual from Measure V, the city sales tax.

The city had anticipated a $6.2 million drop in General Fund revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so the council made deep cuts to the Fiscal Year 2020-’21 budget. The city also used reserve spending to stabilize the budget. But now, revenues are coming in higher than projected.

The allocations include:

Filling 17 staff positions, which will result in reopening the Police Department lobby, returning some code enforcement and parks programs, and addressing backlogged maintenance of parks, buildings and roadways.

Allocating funds to the five-year Capital Improvement Program for roads and infrastructure, with construction of several projects expected in spring 2023.

Paying down the city’s unfunded personnel liabilities, with $2.6 million in one-time General Fund residuals and an additional $1.4 million annually from the General Fund.

Placing $2.4 million into a holding account as the council determines how to make a positive impact on homeless services.

Meanwhile, the city is studying how to spend the remaining $19 million of the $27 million received from the American Rescue Plan Act. The council will receive a presentation on community feedback on April 26 and is expected to allocate the funding in June.

To learn more about how the council invested the budget residual and to watch the March 8 meeting, visit cityofconcord.org.