2022 Palo Alto Budget Priorities

This service area includes the Planning and Development Services Department, the Public Works Department, the Utilities Department, and the Office of Transportation. 

This service area includes the Community Services Department and the Library Department.

This service area includes the Fire Department, the Police Department, and the Office of Emergency Services

This service area includes the Administrative Services Department (finance), the Human Resources Department, the Information Technology, and City Council and Appointed Offices (City Clerk, City Attorney, City Auditor, and City Manager).

This action restores staffing in the Public Art Division that supports the Cubberley Artist Studio Program (CASP) which is a City-sponsored affordable studio space for artists.

This action would restore 50% of the marketing budget for the Junior Museum and Zoo to better promote the newly constructed facility.

This action restores staffing responsible for managing the parking division and adjudicating hearings related to parking citations.

This action would restore funding and staffing to open the three neighborhood branches to the public limited days per week when safe to do so and maintain programming at FY 2021 levels.

This action would restore funding and staffing to provide summer camp bus transportation services, increase sports and recreation programming, and lessen the increases for athletic field rental rates.

This action restores funding to provide services at Fire Station #2 on weekdays from 8 AM to 8 PM dependent on staffing.

This action would restore funding and staffing to maintain public open hours at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretative Center once it is safe to operate.

This action would restore staffing and funding for administrative support in the Community Services Department including the production of the Enjoy! Catalog. 

This action would restore funding and staffing to increase operating hours and programming, including exhibitions, at the Palo Alto Art Center and hold fees at their current rate.

This action would restore funding for City-provided crossing guards at all schools; the budget includes funding only for high-traffic intersections that are part of common routes to schools.

This action restores funding to maintain the transfer from the General Fund to the Capital Improvement Fund for maintaining the City's infrastructure and capital project investments.

This action would augment funding for the City Council's "Social Justice" priority.

This action would restore staffing at the Children's Theatre including costume design and customer-service front-desk support positions. 

This action would restore funding for transcription and production of sense minutes for all City Council and standing committee meetings.

This action would restore Teen Center operations from two days to five days per week with commensurate staffing and preserve funding in the Think Fund/Bryant Street garage fund.

This action restores staffing in the Police Department responsible for fabricating and maintaining traffic devices to improve response times for work orders and increase support for special events and operations.

This action would restore staffing for Police Officer positions in the Patrol Services division to maintain response times and ensure responses to various types of calls for service that would otherwise not receive a resource.

This action would restore staffing to manage the rental process, payment processing, event schedule, and other administrative tasks to support Cubberley theater operations.

This action restores funding for the City's federal advocacy work and maintains the frequency of the National Citizen's Survey on an annual basis.

This action restores funding for the City's planning and consulting services for on-call engineering and traffic data services as well as meeting transcription services for Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee meetings and the City/School Traffic Safety Committee meetings.

This action would restore funding for annual maintenance of the IDS cameras along the Caltrain corridor; current maintenance needs are low since it is a relatively new system.

This action would augment funding for the City Council's "Economic Recovery" priority.

This action restores funding for various administrative programming expenses including travel, supplies, and general expenditures to support programmings such as National Night out and the Parent Project.

This action would restore staffing in the Current Planning division to increase operational efficiency, decrease processing timelines for issuing permits, and increase customer service.

This action would augment funding for the City Council's "Climate Change Protection and Adaptation" priority.

This action would augment funding for the City Council's "Housing for Social and Economic Balance" priority.

The FY 2022 Proposed Budget anticipates a reserve (BSR) balance of $35.8 million, or 17.4% of General Fund expenses. This would use $23 million and reduce the reserve to ~6%; below the Council target range of 15% to 20% of General Fund expenses.

The City expects to receive $12.5 million of Federal funding from the American Rescue Program Act (ARPA) over two years. The first allocation of $6.25 million, is recognized in the FY 2022 budget allowing the City to abate additional budget reductions as outlined in General Fund Tier 2.  The second allocation is currently expected to assist in addressing an expected gap in revenues and expenses in FY 2023 for the City to maintain the current lowered service levels as it manages through the recovery.  This action would advance the use of this second allocation for use in FY 2022 instead of in FY 2023.

The FY 2022 Proposed Budget anticipates a reserve (BSR) balance of $35.8 million, or 17.4% of General Fund expenses. This would use $9 million and reduce the reserve to ~13%; below the Council target range of 15% to 20% of General Fund expenses.

The FY 2022 Proposed Budget anticipates a reserve (BSR) balance of $35.8 million, or 17.4% of General Fund expenses. This would use $17.9 million and reduce the reserve to ~8.7%; below the Council target range of 15% to 20% of General Fund expenses.

The City Council could explore asking voters to consider increasing existing revenue sources such as the hotel tax, sales tax, utility user tax, and documentary transfer tax. 

The FY 2022 Proposed Budget anticipates a reserve (BSR) balance of $35.8 million, or 17.4% of General Fund expenses. This would use $3.6 million and reduce the reserve to ~15.7%; within the Council target range of 15% to 20% of General Fund expenses.

The City Council could explore asking voters to consider a new revenue source such as a business tax or charge on customer utility bills such as gas and/or electric.