Fiscal Crisis — A $2.3 Million Structural Deficit
active• pacifica
Pacifica's finances are under serious strain, and 2026 is a reckoning year. The city's FY 2026–27 base budget shows general fund revenues of $53.2 million — essentially flat — against expenditures of $57.1 million, a 3.5% jump driven by negotiated salary and benefit increases, rising pension unfunded liability, health insurance, and workers' compensation costs — leaving a $2.3 million structural gap after applying $1.6 million in assumed salary savings from vacant positions. Departments have been directed to bring approximately 5% in reduction options to the June 8 budget hearing — a painful across-the-board cut that will touch every city service. The fiscal squeeze is compounded by the VLF revenue shortfall hitting every San Mateo County city, federal funding uncertainty, and the capital demands of coastal infrastructure. Meanwhile, more than 30 small businesses launched "Project 1334" — offering $13.34 specials — as a creative counteroffensive after WalletHub ranked Pacifica dead last in the nation for entrepreneurship, a ranking that stung but also galvanized community pride.
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