A budget surplus will allow Sunnyvale to shore up some of its reserves.
Slightly lower than expected costs and slightly higher than expected revenues have left the city with $16.83 million more than it anticipated.
“I really believe this city is somewhere where we can do ambitious, incredible, community-focused things and also be the most fiscally responsible city you’ll see around,” Council Member Alysa Cisneros said. “It is often talked about that you are one or the other. I don’t think that’s true, and I think we are proof of that.”
Matt Pauline, the city’s finance director, said over the past decade, Sunnyvale has been in the sweet spot of budget variance, which is between 2% and 3%. This year was no different.
The finance department recommended putting the money into a variety of rainy day buckets.
Nearly half — $8 million — of the surplus went to the city’s pension liability fund.
That fund, Pauline said, stabilizes the pension system until the city can transition to a new one. Until all the city’s most costly employees using the old pension system retire, the fund helps keep pensions afloat.
“For the first time, in year 20 of the pension plan, it shows no debt,” Pauline said. “We’re pretty proud of that. So, it shows we have a plan. We are going to stick to that plan.”
Another $5 million of the surplus went toward the civic center library project. Of the remaining money, $2 million went to the infrastructure fund and $1.4 million to the budget stabilization reserve.
What Pauline called a few “cleanup items” rounded out the allocation. Among those were $446,000 for public safety mutual aid, $4,000 redevelopment agency legal fees and $10,000 to administrative support for Santa Clara County Cities Association.
The independent auditor hired by the city, Maze & Associates, gave the city a clean opinion.
Grace Zhang, partner at Maze & Associates, said the audit went “very well” adding that the city is “becoming much more efficient.”
Sunnyvale received a certificate for achievement in finance excellence, the 40th consecutive year it has received the award.
Although City Manager Tim Kirby cautioned the council to avoid reallocating money outside the proposed budget, some council members wanted to see more money put into homeless services and active transportation projects.
Several public commenters called for such changes.
“We have housing problems here in Sunnyvale,” Angela Rausch, chair of Livable Sunnyvale. “Housing is connected to everything.”
Doug Kunz said putting more money into active transportation and the infrastructure fund might be a better use of money than funding the library project.
Daniel Karpelevitch echoed the idea that active transportation needs more emphasis.
“It is just common sense to spend money in ways that would benefit the community now,” he said.
Following public comments, Council Member Richard Mehlinger and Cisneros proposed changes to the allocations, one that would siphon $2 million from the pension fund and funnel it into the budget stabilization reserve and infrastructure fund.
But their council colleagues thought it important to trust the budgeting process.
“It is difficult for me to reconcile some of these numbers,” Council Member Eileen Le said. “A million dollars is a lot of dollars to go to either of these priorities, and while they are important ones, I just don’t understand outside the process how we are going to be allocating them.”
After defeating the proposal to reallocate the surplus, the council unanimously supported the recommended allocation.
Sunnyvale Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:
- A $297,000 amendment to an agreement with Haute Cuisine, Inc., to extend the Senior Center Lunch Program.
- A $2.3 million contract with Western Water Constructors, Inc. for work at the water pollution control plant.
Council Member Murali Srinivasan was absent. This is the council’s last meeting of the year. The first meeting in 2026 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 13.
To submit public comments ahead of the meeting, visit http://Sunnyvale.ca.gov/PublicComments; Meeting online link: https://sunnyvale-ca-gov.zoom.us/j/96111580540; meeting call-in telephone number: 833-548-0276, meeting ID: 961 1158 0540
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
Previous Sunnyvale City Council Posts:
Sunnyvale Bicycling Advocates Score Victory Over Disgruntled Neighbors
Developer Fees to Bolster Sunnyvale’s Available Pool for Below-Market Housing
Sunnyvale Upgrades Bike Connectivity
Sunnyvale Continues To Explore Food Service Worker Retention Ordinance
