Council approves mid-year budget with more homeless outreach, youth and economic development spending

Sacramento (Feb. 15, 2022) The number of outreach workers offering help and services to unhoused people in the City of Sacramento will more than double under a mid-year budget adopted Tuesday by the Sacramento City Council.

The Council approved the mid-year budget proposal by City Manager Howard Chan to add 19 positions to the Department of Community Response, including 10 outreach workers, two code enforcement officers and seven to work in contracts and administration. The department currently has a total of 23 people, 10 of which do direct outreach. DCR also includes the city’s Office of Violence Prevention.

The Council also approved a proposal by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg for an additional $2.8 million that will be used to help community-based organizations hire outreach workers that will be embedded with DCR teams in each Council district.

The Council also approved the additional spending items proposed by Mayor Steinberg in a letter to the City Council spelling out his priorities. That includes $10 million for the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to address the city’s two biggest challenges: homelessness and the shortage of affordable housing.

The City’s mid-year budget adjustment occurs half-way through the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Revenues are updated to reflect what the City has actually received rather than what was projected before the budget was adopted for 2021/2022.

Chan’s mid-year proposal, published on the City website Thursday, Feb. 3, proposed putting nearly $50 million in excess revenue into reserves to address projected budget deficits in the coming years.

The Council opted to support Mayor Steinberg’s proposal to instead put $23 million in reserves, enough to assure a balanced budget for 2022/23, and spend $27 million on urgent City priorities, including youth, important community projects and additional resources to support the City’s racial equity initiatives.

“This proposal continues the Mayor and Council’s five-year effort to expand the definition of the City’s core priorities beyond basic services to include building an inclusive modern economy; creating more affordable housing and alleviating homelessness; and investing in our youth and neighborhoods,” Mayor Steinberg said.

Councilmember Jay Schenirer said the Mayor’s letter helped “center us on the things that are the most important.” He said he was comfortable setting aside a smaller amount in reserves that the City Manager proposed because the mid-year budget has produced a surplus in each of the 11 years he has served on the Council.

Other key spending items approved Tuesday include $1 million for the establishment of a coordinated entry system for people experiencing homelessness. Proposed by Sacramento Steps Forward, the system would use 211 as a 24/7 hotline that would coordinate access into city and county respite centers, safe grounds, shelters and other resources. SFF projects the system would cost $3 million annually to operate, and it has asked for a $1 million upfront contribution from Sacramento County as well.

An additional $2 million would go to assist women and children experiencing homelessness.

The Council also approved $9 million for youth investments, including money for workforce training spelled out in a letter by Councilmembers Jay Schenirer and Mai Vang. An allocation of $2.5 million will go to increase youth services, expand broadband access and make other improvements in the Marina Vista/Alder Grove housing projects, which have experienced multiple recent gun violence tragedies.

In addition, the Council approved $3.2 million for economic development initiatives, including $1 million to purchase equipment for the California Mobility Center’s ramp-up factory, which is used to train young people and help start-up clean mobility companies bring their ideas to scale. La Familia will receive $2 million toward buildings its planned Opportunity Center in south Sacramento. Another $200,000 would finish renovation of the building in Winn Park into the Center for Latino Center of Arts & Culture.

Read the full text of Mayor’s budget proposal here.

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