Downey budget grows nearly 10% to $103M

Photo courtesy Councilman Mario Trujillo.

DOWNEY - Downey is anticipating a nearly 10% increase in revenues and expenditures in fiscal year 2022-23, according to the proposed budget presented to the City Council on Tuesday.

General Fund revenues in the upcoming fiscal year are anticipated to be over $103.3 million, representing a 9.8% increase from last year. A majority of those monies will come from sales and property taxes, which together make up 65% of the city’s revenue stream.

Expenditures are projected to be at $103 million, also a 9.8% increase from the previous year. As in previous years, the city will once again spend around two-thirds of its budget on public safety, allocating $41.5 million (40%) and $26 million (25%) to the police and fire departments.

The city will also spend around $90 million on capital improvement projects, including $47.7 million on streets.

Proceeds from a $13 million one-time sale of property off Bellflower Boulevard to Kaiser Permanente will also account for 10 capital needs expenditures, including city hall improvements, city maintenance yard work, and lighting at Furman Park. The sale will also notably help the city close out the book on Measure S in its entirety.

The budget includes funding for five additional employees, including one motor patrol officer, one safety dispatcher, and two school resource officer positions that will be funded by the Downey Unified School District. The city’s current social media intern position in the city manager’s office will be converted to a full-time position.

Overall, the city is projecting 430 budgeted full-time positions.

Downey anticipates ending the fiscal year with over $32.5 million in reserves. At Tuesday’s budget talks, Councilman Mario Trujillo suggested tapping into the reserves to address neglected alleys.

“I will not accept that I’m going to have to cut in streets to give to alleys,” said Trujillo. “We have a $30-something million-dollar surplus, and at some point we are choosing to provide less effective services, or services in general, for our residents because we want to save money in the rainy day fund.

“I made it clear: I’m the infrastructure guy, I’m the curb appeal guy…I have an obligation to advocate for the residents, and when I hear that our alleys haven’t been given any attention for 30 years, it’s disturbing.”

Downey initially had $300,000 allocated toward rehabilitation of two of the city’s 26 alleys, located north and south of Stewart and Gray Road between Lakewood Boulevard and Patton Road. Trujillo suggested increasing that amount to $1 million.

The request received pushback from Councilwoman Claudia M. Frometa, who expressed caution over the city’s reserves.

The council eventually agreed to have staff return with more details on the city’s alleys that are most in need of repair before allocating additional dollars.

The city council will consider formally adopting the budget at its next meeting.

The spending plan is the tenth consecutive – and final – balanced budget under current City Manager Gilbert Livas.