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Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget / Reserve Fund Restoration / Budgetary Concerns

Council File 24-0600-S37

Introduced
2024-09-27
Last changed
2026-05-05
Status
closed
Expires
2028-04-22
Initiated by
City Administrative Officer
References
Related Council File: 24-0600-S114City Administrative Officer Report: 0590-00098-5291; 0220-06386-0000City Attorney Report: R25-0281

Brief

The City Administrative Officer submitted recommendations in September 2024 to address budgetary concerns and restore the Reserve Fund for Fiscal Year 2024-25. Council adopted the item with amendments in October 2024 (12-0 vote), then revisited it in 2025 and 2026 after the City Attorney submitted a restaffing plan with cost-benefit analysis. The Budget and Finance Committee approved the final version in April 2026, and Council adopted it again on April 22, 2026 (12-0-3 vote). The file is now closed.

Full summary

The City Administrative Officer identified fiscal concerns in the 2024-25 budget and proposed initial recommendations to restore the Reserve Fund. The CAO report, dated September 27, 2024, was referred to the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee. The committee approved the item on October 9, 2024, and Council adopted it with amendments on October 22, 2024. The amendments came through Amending Motion 12A (moved by Yaroslavsky and Park, seconded by Krekorian and Padilla) and Amending Motion 12B (moved by Padilla, seconded by Hernandez). In June 2025, the City Attorney submitted a report on a restaffing plan with cost-benefit analysis. The Budget and Finance Committee noted and filed the report on June 17, 2025, but requested further detail. On August 1, 2025, Council adopted the item again in a second formal action. The focus of the file had by then broadened from the original Reserve Fund restoration question to encompass strategies for controlling the City's liability claims costs, which have been a significant driver of budget instability. In March 2026, the CAO and City Attorney jointly submitted a report on proposed strategies to reduce liability claims payouts. The Budget and Finance Committee took up that report on April 13, 2026, and approved four directives for Council action: instructing the CAO to release its biennial actuarial study on liability payouts to Council upon completion; directing the CAO and requesting the City Attorney to produce analyses on using insurance coverage to reduce litigation costs, increasing department accountability for excess liability payouts, and developing staffing plans to centralize liability mitigation oversight citywide; requesting the City Attorney to report on opportunities to share settlement costs with other responsible parties through subrogation and claim-tendering; and adopting a capital plan that treats liability mitigation as a primary criterion for project inclusion, with outcome metrics and identified funding across all asset classes. The committee directed the City Attorney and CAO to prioritize two items in particular: the insurance coverage analysis and the plan to centralize liability oversight. Council adopted the full package on April 22, 2026, by a vote of 12-0-3, and the file was formally closed on May 5, 2026.

Activity (22)

  • 2026-05-05 Council action final.
  • 2026-04-27 Council action final.
  • 2026-04-22 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 2026-04-17 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on April 22, 2026.
  • 2026-04-13 Budget and Finance Committee approved item(s) .
  • 2026-04-10 Budget and Finance Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on April 13, 2026.
  • 2026-03-31 City Administrative Officer; City Attorney document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee.
  • 2026-03-27 Document submitted by City Administrative Officer, dated March 27, 2026.
  • 2025-08-06 Council action final.
  • 2025-08-01 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 2025-07-29 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on August 1, 2025.
  • 2025-06-17 Budget and Finance Committee Noted and Filed the City Attorney report dated June 3, 2025, and requested additional information.
  • 2025-06-13 Budget and Finance Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on June 17, 2025.
  • 2025-06-04 City Attorney document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee.
  • 2025-06-03 Document(s) submitted by City Attorney, as follows:City Attorney report, dated June 3, 2025, relative to a restaffing plan with a cost/benefit analysis.
  • 2024-10-23 Council action final.
  • 2024-10-22 Council adopted item as amended, by Amending Motion 12A (Yaroslavsky, Park - Krekorian, Padilla) and Amending Motion 12B (Padilla - Hernandez), subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 2024-10-18 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on October 22, 2024.
  • 2024-10-09 Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee approved item(s) .
  • 2024-10-04 Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on October 9, 2024.
  • 2024-09-30 City Administrative Officer document(s) referred to Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee.
  • 2024-09-27 Document(s) submitted by City Administrative Officer, as follows:City Administrative Officer report 0590-00098-5291, dated September 27, 2024, relative to 2024-25 budgetary concerns and initial recommendations to restore the Reserve Fund.

Documents (20)

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