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CivicCause budget overview

Pacifica Budget Overview

FY2026-27 Proposed / Recommended Budget with FY2025-26 amended current year comparison

Pacifica's FY2026-27 Proposed / Recommended Budget is narrowly balanced only after recommended reductions, revenue adjustments, and a salary-savings assumption. The City Manager's package shows a $169K adjusted General Fund surplus, while also warning that the budget is not structurally balanced because ongoing operating costs still exceed ongoing operating revenues.

General Fund revenue
$53.6M
FY2026-27 proposed revenues and transfers in.
General Fund spending
$55.0M
FY2026-27 proposed expenditures and transfers out.
Adjusted position
+$169K
After recommended reductions and salary-savings assumption.
FY2026-31 CIP need
$391.1M
Five-year capital program need, including unfunded projects.
Budget status: balanced with caveats. The proposed General Fund shows a $169K adjusted surplus after reductions and salary savings, while the base budget would still be in deficit. The source documents identify this as a narrow short-term balance rather than a structurally balanced budget.
General Fund revenue
FY2025-26 amended
$53.649M
FY2026-27 proposed/recommended
$53.567M
-$82K
Revenues and transfers are roughly flat compared with the amended current-year estimate.
General Fund spending
FY2025-26 amended
$55.203M
FY2026-27 proposed/recommended
$55.013M
-$190K
The recommended package trims spending relative to the amended current-year comparison.
Base budget position
Before recommended balancing
-$3.882M
After salary savings
-$2.267M
still negative
The unbalanced base case provides context for the City's recommended balancing actions.
Recommended position
Before salary savings
-$1.446M
Adjusted result
+$169K
narrowly positive
The final resident-facing status relies on the proposed savings assumption.

Prior actual, current-year, and proposed comparison

Measure
FY2024-25 actual
FY2025-26 amended
FY2026-27 proposed/recommended
Change
General Fund revenues/transfers
$51.993M
$53.649M
$53.567M
-$82K
General Fund expenditures/transfers
$48.098M
$55.203M
$55.013M
-$190K
Salaries and benefits
$32.514M
$36.477M
$38.037M
+$1.560M
Contract services
$7.964M
$10.000M
$8.448M
-$1.552M
Materials, supplies, maintenance
$5.036M
$5.083M
$4.223M
-$860K
Transfers and allocations out
$2.510M
$3.593M
$4.256M
+$662K

Revenue summary

FY2026-27 operating revenue
$53.117M
General Fund operating revenue before transfers in.
Transfers in
$450K
Transfers into the General Fund in the proposed/recommended package.
Total General Fund revenue
$53.567M
Revenues plus transfers in.
Year-over-year movement
-$82K
Compared with the FY2025-26 amended revenue/transfers estimate.

Major General Fund spending categories

Category
FY2026-27
Source-based note
Salaries and benefits
$38.037M
Largest General Fund cost category; rises from the FY2025-26 amended estimate.
Contract services
$8.448M
Reduced from the amended current-year estimate and from the base FY2026-27 request.
Materials, supplies, maintenance
$4.223M
Reduced from the amended current-year estimate.
Transfers and allocations out
$4.256M
Includes transfers out of the General Fund, including capital-related movement.

Reserve and fund balance

The proposed package projects a $21.094M General Fund ending fund balance. The undesignated General Fund balance is projected at 22.6% of operating expenditures, while the City still uses assumptions and reductions to close the FY2026-27 operating gap.

Ending General Fund balance
$21.094M
Projected FY2026-27 ending fund balance.
Undesignated balance
22.6%
Share of operating expenditures.
All-funds ending balance
$55.632M
Projected across all funds in Attachment 8.
All-funds use
-$6.729M
Citywide fund-balance use, driven heavily by Enterprise Fund capital costs.

Budget Signals

  • The proposed budget reaches an adjusted General Fund surplus after reductions, revenue options, and salary-savings assumptions.
  • Budget documents identify an ongoing structural gap between recurring revenues and recurring expenditures.
  • Public safety changes include grant revenue, opioid-settlement support, and police/fire staffing freezes.
  • Housing, infrastructure, and environmental compliance appear as specific proposed items in the recommended budget package.
  • The five-year CIP identifies $391.1M in project needs, including approximately $287.8M that is currently unfunded.

Cause-oriented budget signals

Public Safety
grant/savings items
Traffic grant, opioid-settlement support, and police/fire staffing freezes are listed in the recommended package.
Infrastructure
$7.9M streets
FY2026-27 streets and sidewalk CIP projects, with much larger unfunded needs.
Transportation
$5.5M overcrossing
Manor Drive Overcrossing is one of the largest proposed transportation projects.
Parks & Recreation
service reductions
Aquatics phase-out, maintenance reductions, and unfunded parks capital needs are called out in source materials.
Housing
$500K+ proposed
Zoning modernization, objective design standards, public lands housing, and Housing Element support.
Environment
$75K SB 1383
Environmental compliance appears alongside much larger stormwater and coastal capital needs.
Governance
admin cuts
OPEB trust contribution, IT, legal, recruitment, and meeting-support reductions help balance the proposal.

Capital Improvement Program

Pacifica's FY2026-31 Capital Improvement Program is dominated by streets, wastewater, coastal resilience, facilities, stormwater, and parks needs. Only about $29.0M is proposed for FY2026-27 projects, while $287.8M remains unfunded.

Five-year CIP need
$391.1M
Total FY2026-31 capital program need.
FY2026-27 proposed projects
$29.0M
Projects proposed for the budget year.
Unfunded projects
$287.8M
Needs listed without identified funding.
Coastal
$111.648M
Largest five-year capital need, including major resiliency work.
Facilities
$107.085M
Includes large facility needs such as library and fire station projects.
Streets and sidewalks
$68.572M
Road, sidewalk, ADA, bike-lane, and overcrossing needs.
Wastewater
$50.709M
Major sewer and wastewater capital work.
Parks and recreation
$29.525M
Parks, recreation, and public-space capital needs.
Stormwater
$23.113M
Stormwater and pump-station needs.

Example funded FY2026-27 projects

  • FY2026-27 pavement resurfacing: $1.670M
  • Manor Drive Overcrossing: $5.500M
  • Sidewalk, curb, and ADA improvements: $495K
  • Oceana Bike Lanes: $92K
  • Collection system rehabilitation: $12.402M
  • CCWRP Headworks: $2.400M
  • Sharp Park Pump Station: $1.000M
  • Linda Mar Stormwater Pump Station: $1.000M
FY2026-27 is labeled proposed/recommended because the authoritative source is the June 8, 2026 City Manager Recommended budget package. The label remains proposed/recommended until the City publishes adopted FY2026-27 materials.

Official sources

June 8, 2026 City Council meeting

Official meeting record for the FY2026-27 proposed budget package.

Staff report: Fiscal Year 2026-27 Proposed Budget Program Options

Primary policy framing, structural-balance caveat, and Council action context.

Attachment 1: City Manager Recommended Budget Options

Authoritative source for recommended balancing actions and program options.

Attachment 2: General Fund Revenues

Source for General Fund revenue and transfer figures.

Attachment 3: General Fund Expenditures

Source for General Fund expenditure category figures.

Attachment 8: Projected Fund Balance Schedule

Source for General Fund and all-funds fund balance figures.

Attachment 9: FY2026-31 Capital Improvement Program

Source for CIP totals, funded project examples, and unfunded project categories.

Attachment 10: Not Recommended Operating and CIP Items

Context for resident-facing priorities that were not included in the recommended package.

City budget information page

Official City page for prior-year budget materials.

FY2025-26 adopted budget page

Current adopted baseline context; the PAC-BUDGET-2 comparison uses amended current-year figures where available.