BAKERSFIELD CITY COUNCIL
POST-MEETING AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING
March 25, 2026, 3:30 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue
1. ROLL CALL
2. PUBLIC STATEMENTS
a. Non-Agenda Item Public Statements
b. Agenda Item Public Statements
3. CLOSED SESSION
a. Conference with Labor Negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6
4. CLOSED SESSION ACTION
5. REPORTS
a. Second Quarter 2025-26 Budget Update
Report and Presentation
Staff recommends Council receive and file report and presentation. *1. PowerPoint presentation
6. ADJOURNMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
MEETING DATE: March 25, 2026 AGENDA CATEGORY: Reports TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Randy McKeegan, Finance Director
DATE: March 9, 2026
SUBJECT: Second Quarter 2025-26 Budget Update
Report and Presentation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends Council receive and file report and presentation.
BACKGROUND:
City staff will present a report on the fiscal year 2025-26 budget progress.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
COUNCIL GOAL:
Innovative and Efficient City Government
ATTACHMENTS:
None
General Fund –2026 Q2 UpdateMarch 25, 2026
Budget Outlook
Budget preparation for 2026-27 continues
Updates last week presented revenue and plans for budget reductions Long-range forecast identified reductions needed
Updated to 4-year plan of 17% after COLAs increases
Initiated a hiring freeze for 2025-26 to generate additional savings – first quarter update identified 8.7M savings generated
Hiring Freeze – 2ndQuarter Results
Total of 293 positions vacant for some portion of 2 quarters 227 General Fund (inc PSVS)
57 Enterprise Funds – 33 Filled
9 Special Revenue Funds – 4 Filled
General Fund positions
Positions Filled - 51
Remaining Approved to Fill - 36
Frozen or monitoring positions – 70 / 70 set for elimination
Forecast Methodology
Budget Module builds current year forecast
General Fund salaries and benefits primary focus
Based on Salaries and Benefits through February 2026
Forecast projects remaining months based on YTD
General Fund Estimated Savings General Fund Personnel Expenses Financial SummaryCategory AmountFY 2025 Actuals $278,464,997FY 2026 Amended Budget $304,798,403(a)FY 2026 YTD Actuals (as of Feb 2026) $190,696,671FY 2026 Forecast $277,371,684(b)Variance Over/(Under) [(a) – (b)]($27,426,719)*Estimated salary savings $11.7 Million*-includes $7.7M in grant funds that will be carried over & est salary savings of $7.9M
City Reserve Balances BALANCE TARGET BALANCEContingency (Rainy-Day) Reserve $60,984,000 $65,500,000Facility Reserves $5,290,000 $10,000,000Pension Stabilization Fund $8,217,000 N/A
Next Steps
Maintain GF Hiring Freeze for some positions (thaw)
Expected to now result in a minimum of $11.7M in carryover Positions held for anticipated reductions in subsequent years Complete 2026-27 Budget
Complete management carryovers for 2026 could generate additional cost savings for 2027