Cupertino Budget Crisis

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About 40% of the City of Cupertino's revenue comes from sales taxes. But with a state audit, the sales tax revenue is estimated to drop 73% this year, from $11.4 million from $42.1 million, a $30.7 million change. The City of Cupertino's budget will change from surplus to deficit. See staff report for details.

Below is a screen shot of the staff report.

The city offered three strategies: reduce fund, cut expenditure and increase revenue.

Below is a screen shot of fund reduction.

Below are screen shots of expenditure reductions.

Below are screen shots of increasing revenue.

The City of Cupertino is conducting a survey.
How should Cupertino balance its budget?

Below are some ideas not offered in the city survey above.

• A hiring freeze while the budget is in deficit. The Staff per 1000 residents ratio is at all time high (3.32). How about scale it back to FY 14-15 level (2.62)? refrence
  
  Given the population is 66,274 in 2022, we can save 46 positions. Each position costs about $186,000 per year (See Expenditure Reduction Strategies above). The saving is about $8,556,000 per year.

• Change the City Hall plan to minimum, which would reduce $16.4M for renovation, or $63.9M for a new City Hall. See here for more details.