Fiscal Sustainability — Sustaining a Well-Managed City in Difficult Times

active• fremont

Fremont has historically been one of the better-managed large cities in the East Bay — but structural fiscal pressures are forcing difficult choices. Labor negotiations with nine employee bargaining units were completed by year-end 2025, resulting in a negotiated 1.3% cost-of-living adjustment and other benefits that must be incorporated into the current fiscal year budget, requiring additional budget-balancing measures presented to the City Council in February 2026. The city's five stated Council priorities — economic development, financial sustainability, public safety, environmental sustainability, and homelessness response — reflect a governing philosophy of disciplined management, but the gap between available revenue and the cost of sustaining these priorities is widening as federal and state funding erode. The city has also been pursuing supplemental funding aggressively — securing $850,000 from the Federal FY 2026 Transportation-Housing appropriations bill for the Auto Mall Parkway Median Project, and advocating for restoration of HHAP grant program funding to previous levels.

Related cause: Budget priorities

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