How the City Failed Us All
Since its inception 130 years ago, the City of Pleasanton has never had to go to residents for a bond or a tax increase. And while that day may yet come, today is not that day. We have a proud history and tradition of being fiscally responsible and living within our means. We survived two World Wars, the Depression, the Great Recession, and COVID, all without having to ask voters for more. So what's changed? We had a $14 million surplus last year, and now we have a projected $13 million deficit. So, what's really going on?
The City's leadership created a fiscal crisis and called it a structural deficit. Then after spending roughly an entire year looking for ways to save money, all they could come up with was a meager $2.5 million (roughly 1% of the overall budget).
Claiming they had cut to the bone and there was nothing more to do, they gave us the choice--tax ourselves or let the City go to seed by eliminating what is most important to us, a threat devised by a costly consultant hired by the City.
City leadership has failed us by not doing their jobs properly, not being honest or transparent about their budget assumptions, and threatening to cut what we care about most.
The City is hoarding money in two funds totaling $117M--the Pension Trust Fund and the Retiree Medical Fund. In June, 2024, the Pension Trust Fund alone grew by more than $500,000, for a grand total of $51M. This fund was created on a former administration's watch and was established in anticipation of and precisely for the purpose of smoothing out most of the City's pension obligations until 2037-2038, when Pleasanton's existing liability for past unfunded pension benefits will be fully repaid. Yet, the current City leadership refuses to use this fund for its intended purpose. Instead, they say, they need to hang onto these funds in order to garner favorable credit ratings for future loans they may wish to borrow for capital projects.
Join us in voting NO on Measure PP and demand the City go back to the drawing board, convene a budget task force, similar to what the school district is currently going through, and do the necessary work to produce a proper and fully-vetted budget that doesn't threaten to cut what we care about most.