Page 3 - FY 2021-22 CAO Overview of Proposed Budget

2020-21 FINANCIAL RECAP

• The 2020-21 Budget was developed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the
height of uncertainty.

• By early September, it was clear that the City would not meet revenue projections,
eventually projecting that it would fall $600 million (now $544 million, excluding
federal relief funds) short – close to 10% of the General Fund budget.

• Under the leadership of the Budget and Finance Committee, the City Council and
Mayor adopted a budget balancing plan that included:

– $158 million in spending reductions through a hiring freeze, retirement incentives, capital
project deferrals, and cutting contracts and other expenditures.
– $104 of available federal relief funds.
– $294 million of the City’s General Fund Reserves, or all but 2.75% (the Charter emergency
minimum).
– $133 million in deficit borrowing.

– $23 million in labor cost reductions from unpaid days for City workers and deferring
compensation adjustments.

• If enacted, this plan would have allowed the City to persevere through the fiscal
year, but it would have been in a weakened position, with dangerously low
reserves and severely curtailed services.

2021-22 Proposed Budget

Presentation to the Budget and Finance Committee