A year ago this time, as cities throughout Monterey County were staring down the early months of the pandemic and wondering how it would impact the bottom line as they worked on the next fiscal year’s budget, Seaside City Manager Craig Malin says he wasn’t sure the city would have enough money to pay its electrical bills come 2021.
As the City Council prepares for its June 2 budget workshop, in advance of a June 17 meeting at which the proposed $94 million draft budget will be presented, it’s a different story.
“It went from the worst budget to the best budget I’ve ever presented to a council in my career,” Malin says. “The budget that is being presented to the council is really strong.”
What strong looks like is this: a $27.2 million fund balance, with an additional $8.4 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act headed the city’s way; a plan to add more than 30 positions in almost all areas of city government, from police to social workers to planning and permitting; and preparations for developments that will transform old Fort Ord blight into a shiny new Campus Town project that will bring homes and tax revenue to the city.
Some revenue streams went down and some sacrifices were made. Salaries across the board were slashed, and while Seaside isn’t as dependent on transient-occupancy taxes paid by hotel guests as neighboring cities, TOT was down during the pandemic.
Those new positions the city is planning to add have a history behind them. Seaside, several councilmembers say, has been woefully understaffed for years. The new positions proposed include three engineering jobs; maintenance workers; recreation program coordinators; a community development director; a housing assistant; a planner; and an economic development manager. They also include two positions each for police officers, sergeants, commanders and detention officers, as well as an administrative assistant for the police department and another for the fire department.
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