The Fresno City Council has spent long days this week discussing the city’s $2.4 billion budget.

Hashing over the budget for at least eight hours daily Monday through Thursday (including lunch breaks), the council heard presentations from 22 departments and asked dozens of questions.

The council is responsible for approving the $2.4 billion budget by the end of the month. During the week, councilmembers made 60 budget motions for various projects. More could come next week.

The motions reallocate $9.6 million, which Mayor Jerry Dyer’s administration will have to reconcile. Several other motions did not include a specific amount.

Here are some selected budget discussions from the week.

Watch: Mayor Dyer Announces The City Will Maintain All Downtown Parking

Does Parking Pay For Itself?

The city is spending $4 million more in taxpayer revenue to operate the parking department than it takes in.

Operating the parking division, a unit of the planning department, costs $10.7 million.

“Which is far better than it used to be,” City Manager Georgeanne White said.

Revenues increased to $6.5 million, a million more than projected, planning director Jennifer Clark said. People returning to working on site led to greater bulk rates and lease agreements, Clark said.

But, Dyer said that number is deceiving. The deficit includes $2 million to make up for one-time spending on maintenance previously covered by federal ARPA funds.

The city will resume operations of downtown parking, reducing the real deficit to $1 million. Operating parking in-house will eventually allow the department to operate in the black, Dyer said.

“Parking is one of those things that it’s a service that a city provides. It’s like parks, our trails. It’s not necessarily a subsidy, it is a service. And we provide parking downtown. Somebody has to regulate that parking and enforce parking and to ensure that we have ample parking places,” Dyer said.

The contract with third-party company ACE expires next January. Clark told the council the cost will be neutral for FY 2026, with savings of $500,000 per year starting in FY 2027.

The city plans to add 2.5 staffers for a total of more than 32.

Clark said automated garages will help, using automatic license plate readers.

Dyer said the city plans to add more lots in the coming years. One will be on H Street across the street from Chukchansi Park.

The city already owns an adjacent parcel — where a since-torn down warehouse used to be. It plans to purchase part of that lot from the current owner, the Baker family. The Bakers bought the lot from the city, around the same time it bought the Fresno Grizzlies. When the Bakers sold the Grizzlies in 2023, the family kept the lot, which it leases to the team.

Another future parking garage will be on Fulton Street, near the CVS pharmacy. Dyer said that will be a parking and housing project.

A Wild Suggestion for Freeway Fires

Fresno Fire put out 509 freeway fires in 2025 alone, a 39% increase year-to-date since last year. While the fire department did not have an immediate answer for the rise its budget hearing, homeless are suspected of starting many of the fires.

White jokingly had a suggestion for firefighter safety.

“I’m not serious about this, we’ve joked around, but maybe we should do a controlled burn, and just let the entire embankment burn down,” White said.

Dyer expressed frustration with the lack of cooperation with Caltrans in removing homeless from the freeway. Many other California mayors are also frustrated with the state agency’s seeming indifference to homelessness. Caltrans does not compensate the city to extinguish freeway fires.

In response, Caltrans said it has cleaned more than 1,500 encampments on the state right of way in the city of Fresno and collected approximately 665 cubic yards of debris in the last year.

”Caltrans assesses potential safety and infrastructure threats on the state right of way, which can include homeless encampments. Except in circumstances presenting an imminent threat to life or infrastructure, Caltrans provides a minimum notice of 48 hours before removing an encampment,” a Caltrans spokesperson said.

A proposed state law, AB 569 by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, would “set timelines for responding to requests to remove encampments and clarifies the agency could contract with local governments, and reimburse them, to do it.” The bill passed the Senate this week.

No Return to Triple-A Baseball

The Fresno Grizzlies have been the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies since 2021 — a move Major League Baseball demanded after 23 seasons as a Triple-A affiliate. The difference is in the experience of minor league players and immediacy of becoming Big League stars.

Councilmember Annalisa Perea questioned team president Derek Franks — during a presentation about Chukchansi Park — about a possible return to the highest level.

“As of now, I’ve had no discussions with anybody about any changes to our affiliation or designation or classification,” Franks said.

Franks said the team has made improvements to the stadium to satisfy MLB standards, such as installing indoor batting cages. He called it “a big step in the right direction for being considered for something different in the future.”

When MLB took over the minor league system  after 2020 — despite the strong relationship, the two entities had operated independently — Fresno was demoted to Single-A, a take-it-or-leave-it offer. The move did guarantee a minor league affiliation through 2030.

The bond to build the park will be paid off by 2031. The lease with owner Diamond Baseball Holdings runs through 2036.

Council Debates Administrator Salary

Robert Theller is retiring as the retirement administrator of the City of Fresno Retirement System, the city’s pension system. CFRS is quasi-independent but relies on the city council for setting salaries. The city council debated a request to increase the salary for Theller’s successor.

CFRS Police and Fire board member Don Gross told the council the top range for a new administrator could be $350,000. The current top range is $271,068.

Council President Mike Karbassi grilled CFRS about its salary increase request.

“It’s hard to justify that,” Karbassi said.

Karbassi compared the salary request to what the governor makes — $243,000. He asked if it is appropriate for a successful retirement administrator to make more.

Gross did not answer because Theller had a better year, but did say the increase is justified compared to other public retirement administrators.

White is currently the highest paid city employee as city manager, at $308,616. She told the city council that Fresno is below other similar cities compensating director roles.

Councilmember Miguel Arias, a longtime critic of Theller and the department, questioned the agency’s spending. Particularly, Arias questioned the need for using its office space — which the agency owns on Fresno Street downtown — when several of its 19 employees work remotely. CFRS leases the remainder of its space.

A ‘Hunger Games’ Moment

While the hearings were relatively cordial, there was one tense discussion.

In the “good for thee, but not for me” file, District 6 Councilmember Nick Richardson — representing northeast Fresno — proposed moving $52,087 from the council budget, shared by all seven districts, to the general fund, to be in line with cuts made by other departments.

“I’m sure it’s more symbolic than anything, more of a skin in the game,” Richardson said.

While the budget accounted for attrition in almost every department, it left the council budget alone. Dyer said he did so to respect the council’s independence.

The motion died when no other councilmember offered a second. Councilmembers were unwilling to cut their own budgets, citing a variety of reasons.

Arias said he respected his fellow councilmembers enough not to question how they operate their offices.

“We all have platforms and how to utilize them,” Arias said.

Other councilmembers noted that Richardson’s District 6 (northeast Fresno) traditionally operates at a budget surplus.

Councilmember Tyler Maxwell said it is difficult hiring and training new City Hall staff with less experience than Richardson’s staff.

“I’m bringing in a new chief of staff, who is probably not going to have a lot of the skills and talent that your (Richardson’s) chief does,” Maxwell said.

He said he is in a position to “start building a better team up” on his staff.

Facetiously, Karbassi proposed a motion to fund the entire rebate from the District 6 budget. No one else supported that.

“This is Hunger Games, isn’t it?” Dyer jokingly observed.

Richardson countered with contributing $27,087 from his district to the general fund.

Other Budget Notes

Dyer said he has listened to every minute of the budget hearings: “I have to because I have to address some of the questions.”

If Measure C expires in 2027, transportation director Greg Barfield said all night bus service “will disappear.”

Measure C is the Fresno County sales tax the finances transportation projects. Multiple groups are working on a renewal plan that could be on the 2026 ballot. Measure C officials recently said there has been progress in negotiating with social justice group Transportation for All on a singular renewal initiative.

Mike Karbassi proposed $120,000 to create a municipal transparency and election integrity unit within the City Attorney’s Office. In the special election for District 5 last March, a dark money group sent mailers to voters, without proper disclosures. City Attorney Andrew Janz fined the group, Fresno Future Forward, $1,000. A GV Wire investigation revealed local political consultant Alex Tavlian was behind the group.

Karbassi officially announced he is running for Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters in 2026.

Councilmembers floated the idea of traffic cameras to ease traffic problems. Police Chief Mindy Casto was not philosophically opposed but said it would be difficult to identify the driver.

Dyer, the former police chief, said when the city once had cameras at three intersections, it led to more accidents — cars would slam on the brakes, leading to rear-end collisions.

Richardson proposed $25,000 — with his office to match — for safety measures at the intersection of Friant and Shepherd avenues. It is the site of some of the most well-publicized red-light running and crashes.

“If we don’t have safety, we don’t have anything,” Richardson said.

White said, technically, that intersection is not dangerous because it meets safety standards.

The cost for a new police vehicle is $102,000.

Maxwell motioned for $1 million for ADA improvements to Storyland/Playland.

Karbassi floated the idea of not charging employees for parking while they are charging electric vehicles.