Flashback: The city council finance committee spitballs ideas to extract an additional $40 million in taxes from its residents and businesses. This article was originally published on Oct. 27, 2025.
Just an update from committees this week. At the Finance Committee, Councilmembers noted that several departments were over budget, and Finance Director Johnson said that this was due to a one time unbudgeted expense of $3,000 raises for city employees that came out of the general fund.
With regards to COLA raises tied to revenue: "the next opportunity is at the end of the closing of the current fiscal year. And so should we between now and then find that either our projections off or that we receive unanticipated revenue in one of the eligible categories at the end of the fiscal year, we would see COLAs triggered in January at thebeginning of the next calendar year for that same period."
Finally, at the public safety committee meeting, Johnson described how Council passed the "extreme fiscal necessity and unanticipated financial event" waiver for 700 officers which allowed access to Measure NN funds. There was a discussion at this meeting about the need to reach 700 officers and current budget, attrition and staffing issues.
How come city employees salaries get raised at the time of the “extreme financial necessity”? This never happens in private sector. It’s high time for the council to put a salary freeze until “extreme financial necessity” gets resolved.
Just an update from committees this week. At the Finance Committee, Councilmembers noted that several departments were over budget, and Finance Director Johnson said that this was due to a one time unbudgeted expense of $3,000 raises for city employees that came out of the general fund.
With regards to COLA raises tied to revenue: "the next opportunity is at the end of the closing of the current fiscal year. And so should we between now and then find that either our projections off or that we receive unanticipated revenue in one of the eligible categories at the end of the fiscal year, we would see COLAs triggered in January at thebeginning of the next calendar year for that same period."
Finally, at the public safety committee meeting, Johnson described how Council passed the "extreme fiscal necessity and unanticipated financial event" waiver for 700 officers which allowed access to Measure NN funds. There was a discussion at this meeting about the need to reach 700 officers and current budget, attrition and staffing issues.
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How come city employees salaries get raised at the time of the “extreme financial necessity”? This never happens in private sector. It’s high time for the council to put a salary freeze until “extreme financial necessity” gets resolved.