Budget Resilience Workshop October 12, 2026 // Zoom Recording

The City of Monterey held a virtual Budget Resilience Workshop on October 12, 2026, to gather community input on an $11.67 million structural deficit in the General Fund and the city’s five-year budget outlook. Finance staff reviewed revenue and cost pressures, including reliance on transient occupancy tax, rising insurance and workers’ compensation costs, utilities, and salaries and benefits. The city is evaluating efficiencies, position vacancies, service reductions, cost recovery, and revenue diversification; no spending or procurement motion, contract award, or vendor selection occurred. Staff noted that a library-café RFP had been issued a couple of years earlier, but discussed it as a past effort rather than an active procurement.

The workshop also covered Measure S, which would extend dedicated funding for streets, sidewalks, ADA work, and storm drains through March 2035, with no additional tax increase; voters were scheduled to consider it on November 3. The measure supports infrastructure outside the General Fund, and staff emphasized the continuing need for maintenance funding. The city plans further public engagement and budget discussions, with City Council study sessions beginning in April 2027, a target to adopt the budget and capital improvement program by June 1, 2027, and the new budget year beginning July 1. Community service-priority polls and exercises were advisory feedback, not formal votes.