The City Council approved the $733 million biennial budget for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years Tuesday night.
Pension liabilities
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Audit: Berkeley’s finances ‘strong’ for now, but long-term challenges loom
Rising infrastructure and pension liabilities could threaten the city’s fiscal health, a recent audit found.
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City approves union contracts, pay agreements affecting over 900 city workers
The City Council approved deals with three of the unions representing Berkeley workers.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: There is a great new partnership between the City Council, city manager and staff
While Berkeley must work to solve its pension liabilities, the city has an excellent staff with deep experience in addressing fiscal matters.
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Interim city manager talks pensions, parks and perks
New to Berkeley and even newer to her role as interim city manager, Dee Williams-Ridley gave residents one of their first chances to get to know her last week at a public forum hosted by the North East Berkeley Association at the Northbrae Community Church. Questions at the Oct. 22 event from moderators and the public […]
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City Manager Christine Daniel details Berkeley’s finances
Isabelle Gaston, president of the North East Berkeley Association, recently did an email interview with Christine Daniel, Berkeley’s City Manager, about the financial health of Berkeley for NEBA’s newsletter. Gaston provided the interview for reprinting on Berkeleyside. It has been edited to conform to Berkeleyside style: Gaston: How would you characterize the overall financial […]
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Berkeley council looks to IT to transform city operations
Discussion about potential rival ice cream stores on Telegraph Ave. consumed nearly two hours of the Berkeley City Council meeting on Tuesday night, with supporters of the two retailers crowding the chamber. For the first public hearing on the city’s budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, and comments on the citywide work plan for […]
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Dog license fees to rise, other Berkeley Council decisions
Raised fees for a number of city services were agreed on Tuesday night by the City Council with relatively little debate and no public comments. Dog licenses will at least double: from $7.50 to $15 for a one-year altered dog licence and from $18 to $40 for a three-year altered dog license. Fees for animal adoptions […]
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Pensions, infrastructure key Berkeley budget liabilities
Berkeley’s City Council on Tuesday night received the first biennial report on the city’s long-term liabilities. The detailed breakdowns in the report from city budget manager Teresa Berkeley-Simmons make clear that the main areas with significant liabilities are police pensions, maintenance of city facilities, and watershed and storm drain maintenance and improvements. Speaking about the […]
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Budget: Spending cuts needed to avoid shortfall
Berkeley’s General Fund projections include a deficit of more than $5 million over the next two years, requiring city leaders to take a tough look at its more cash-strapped departments to reign in costs. To close the gap, the city’s budget manager has recommended recurring 2% General Fund reductions across the board for city departments. […]
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Berkeley General Fund revenues may fall short in 2012-13
City staff were “overly optimistic” in budget projections for the fiscal year that ended in June, but Berkeley’s General Fund still ended up several hundred thousand dollars in the black for 2011-12, the city manager told council members Tuesday night. City Manager Christine Daniel told the Berkeley City Council that “exceptional expenditure control” allowed the […]
Posted inCity
Unfunded liabilities prompt initiative, council resolution
A ballot initiative to force the city to do biennial reports on obligations for employee and retiree expenses and for Berkeley’s physical infrastructure and capital assets appears likely to appear on the ballot in the November election, according to supporters of the plan. At the same time, at tonight’s City Council meeting a similar measure […]