The City of Goleta, like cities everywhere, is dealing with a devastating blow to revenue we count on to run operations and provide a high level of service to our community. The City has had to adjust both its remaining Fiscal Year 2019/20 budget and the upcoming Fiscal Year 2020/21 budget.

In response to the financial impacts of COVID-19, the City Council approved a resolution to amend the City of Goleta’s operating and capital improvement project (CIP) budget for fiscal year 2019/20. Staff presented the proposed budget adjustments at the May 19 City Council meeting to help bridge the revenue shortfalls the City will incur due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which include receiving less sales tax and transient occupancy tax. Expenditure reductions that will lead to operational savings include reducing non-essential service budget line items, delaying projects that have not yet started, and implementing a hiring freeze for staff vacancies to achieve salary and benefit savings as part of the City’s cost containment plan. Read the full staff report with detailed information on the budget here: https://tinyurl.com/y92aeukb.

A budget workshop was also held following the resolution to provide the City Council the opportunity to review the revised Operating and Capital Improvement Budget for Fiscal Year 2020/21, as well as the revised Five-Year Forecast for the General Fund. The report recommends adjustments to the original adopted budget as it relates to the financial impacts and economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The staff report is available here: https://tinyurl.com/ybsojc4u.