The City Council approved the $733 million biennial budget for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years Tuesday night.
City pensions
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Audit: Berkeley’s finances ‘strong’ for now, but long-term challenges loom
Rising infrastructure and pension liabilities could threaten the city’s fiscal health, a recent audit found.
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City approves union contracts, pay agreements affecting over 900 city workers
The City Council approved deals with three of the unions representing Berkeley workers.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: There is a great new partnership between the City Council, city manager and staff
While Berkeley must work to solve its pension liabilities, the city has an excellent staff with deep experience in addressing fiscal matters.
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Opinion: City manager must be more forthright in answering questions about the fiscal impact of adding new employees
Berkeley has hired 73 new employees in the past three years. Before it adds any more, officials must understand and reveal what the long term costs will be.
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Interim city manager talks pensions, parks and perks
Berkeley’s new interim city manager fielded questions from the North East Berkeley Association at a public meeting Oct. 22, 2015. Photo: Natalie Orenstein Berkeley’s new interim city manager fielded questions from the North East Berkeley Association at a public meeting Oct. 22, 2015. Photo: Natalie Orenstein New to Berkeley and even newer to her role […]
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City Manager Christine Daniel details Berkeley’s finances
City Manager Christine Daniel speaking at a City Council meeting earlier this year. Photo: Emilie Raguso Isabelle Gaston, president of the North East Berkeley Association, recently did an email interview with Christine Daniel, Berkeley’s City Manager, about the financial health of Berkeley for NEBA’s newsletter. Gaston provided the interview for reprinting on Berkeleyside. It has […]
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Berkeley council looks to IT to transform city operations
Projects like Code for America develop civic apps and technology tools. Berkeley has fallen far behind leading cities. Photo: eekim Discussion about potential rival ice cream stores on Telegraph Ave. consumed nearly two hours of the Berkeley City Council meeting on Tuesday night, with supporters of the two retailers crowding the chamber. For the first […]
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Dog license fees to rise, other Berkeley Council decisions
Animal services head Kate O’Connor in front of the new animal shelter. Photo: Emilie Raguso Animal services head Kate O’Connor in front of the new animal shelter. Photo: Emilie Raguso Raised fees for a number of city services were agreed on Tuesday night by the City Council with relatively little debate and no public comments. Dog […]
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Pensions, infrastructure key Berkeley budget liabilities
One of the main areas Berkeley has liabilities is the maintenance of city facilities. The old City Hall has seismic issues and needs work, for example Berkeley’s City Council on Tuesday night received the first biennial report on the city’s long-term liabilities. The detailed breakdowns in the report from city budget manager Teresa Berkeley-Simmons make […]
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Budget: Spending cuts needed to avoid shortfall
Employer rates for CalPERS continue to increase Berkeley’s General Fund projections include a deficit of more than $5 million over the next two years, requiring city leaders to take a tough look at its more cash-strapped departments to reign in costs. To close the gap, the city’s budget manager has recommended recurring 2% General Fund […]
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Berkeley General Fund revenues may fall short in 2012-13
Berkeley on a hazy night. Photo: Joe Parks City staff were “overly optimistic” in budget projections for the fiscal year that ended in June, but Berkeley’s General Fund still ended up several hundred thousand dollars in the black for 2011-12, the city manager told council members Tuesday night. City Manager Christine Daniel told the Berkeley […]