BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Bakersfield City Council is set to adopt its mid-year budget Wednesday with revenues exceeding initial estimates.
“Our mid-year process in recent years has considerable significant funding that has not historically been the case," said Bakersfield City Manager Christian Clegg during the Feb. 8 city council meeting.
Clegg offering the mid-year budget review with adjustments, proposing $7 million in one-time allocations of Public Safety and Vital Service funds. Of that $7 million — 58% is allocated to address homelessness, 21% to maintain fiscal solvency, 13% for public safety services and 8% to enhance the quality of life and public amenities.
The largest sum is going towards affordable housing options with $2.6 million from PSVS funds set to match state funding.
“The great news about this is it’s another $5 million total between our money and state funds to address affordable housing needs,” Clegg said.
The next largest allocation is $1.6 million to be set aside towards the city’s rainy day and cash basis reserve fund.
In total, the year-end fund balances for the last fiscal year were $6 million in general funds and $19 million in PSVS funds.
23ABC IN-DEPTH: WHAT DOES A BUDGET CONTAIN?
According to the People's Assembly website, budgets are financial plans for the upcoming year. It determines how public resources will be utilized to perform certain obligations and provide for the city's needs.
The city's budget cycle begins on the 1st of July and ends on the 30th of June in the following year.
There are two aspects: an operating budget and a capital budget. Operating is used to fund the day-to-day like general city maintenance. And capital is used towards long-term purchases like libraries and the construction of roads.
