# City of Hollister City Council Meeting

The City of Hollister City Council held a special meeting on October 2, 2026, focused on an urgent financial emergency and the city’s ability to meet payroll. The council adopted, without opposition, a resolution declaring the emergency and establishing recovery priorities, including reducing ongoing expenditures, reviewing contracts and underused assets, stabilizing utility funds, strengthening financial controls, and completing overdue audits. Staff said the city had $178 in its general-fund bank account at one point and described the water enterprise fund as insolvent since 2018. Public commenters called for clearer financial reporting and review of consulting, professional-services, and outsourcing contracts before workforce cuts; no specific contract awards or procurement approvals were made. A $40,000 Sunny Slope Water contract was cited by a commenter as an example of outside spending.

The council also approved, without opposition, an $18 million interfund loan from impact-fee funds—$11 million to the general fund and $7 million to the water fund—to help cover payroll and operating costs. Staff stated the loan would bear 4% interest and be repaid by June 30, 2027; commenters questioned the amount, repayment assumptions, and draft-document dates. Finally, the council authorized the city manager to seek state legislation allowing the city to ask voters to approve up to a 1% additional transactions-and-use tax; this action does not impose a tax or place a measure on the ballot. Staff described future water and sewer rate proposals and evaluation of a stormwater utility, but those were not decided at this meeting.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Energy & Utilities, Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure
**Published:** October 02, 2026

### Sources
- [City of Hollister City Council Meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHJN8eCgqhI) - City of Hollister California