Richmond holds community budget meetings on $729 million plan

The City of Richmond has been holding a series of community meetings this month to walk residents through a $729 million citywide budget that includes a $50 million payment from Chevron.

The General Fund, which covers police, fire, parks, libraries, and most city services, is budgeted at $266 million for fiscal year 2025-26, up 64 percent from five years ago. Of that amount, the police receive $91.5 million, or 34.5 percent. Fire receives $47.3 million, or 17.8 percent. Public Works is third at $43.1 million, or 16.2 percent.

Deputy Finance Director Mubeen Qader described the public safety concentration at the first community meeting on April 9.

"More than 50 percent is spent on public safety, specifically 35 percent on police and 18 percent on fire," Qader said, noting that remaining funds cover street maintenance, libraries, and programs, including the community crisis response team known as ROCK, Reach Out with Compassion and Kindness.

Where does the money come from — and where does it go?

City of Richmond General Fund · FY 2025-26 · $308.5M in, $265.7M out

Where it comes from

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Where it goes

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Sources: City of Richmond Mid-Year Budget Review (March 2026) · Community Budget Meetings (April 2026) · ci.richmond.ca.us/4096

The April 13 presentation cited several departmental results from the current year. Police reported a 45 percent drop in homicides compared to 2024. Fire and emergency crews responded to 14,284 calls. Public Works removed approximately 3,000 tons of illegal dumping from more than 12,000 locations. Library visits rose 13 percent, and physical checkouts increased 20 percent.

The budget includes $50 million received from Chevron under a 2024 agreement in which the company committed to pay the city $550 million over ten years.

Under the terms, Chevron pays $50 million annually for the first five years and $60 million annually for the remaining five, ending in 2034. Qader said the payment was worth highlighting.

"We want to make sure that the community knows that the polluters pay settlement revenues stream has received $50 million, which is the first installment of the 10 installments total," Qader said.

City officials have classified the Chevron funds as "limited-term revenue," meaning they are not built into the city's base operating budget. The $308.5 million General Fund budget includes $48.5 million in that category, reserved for strategic or one-time uses.

The Utility Users Tax, charged on gas, electricity, cable, and phone bills, is the largest single tax source at $64.9 million. Qader said it is running above projections because a rate cap provision increased by eleven percent against a forecast of seven percent.

"If the rate goes up, so does the revenue in that area," he said.

Sales tax is budgeted at $60.2 million and property tax at $58.3 million. Qader noted that most of the property tax collected in Richmond does not stay with the city.

"Of that dollar, the City of Richmond gets about 28.5 cents, so not the entire part of your property tax bill the City of Richmond collects," he said. "It's only a share, which is just over a quarter, that comes to Richmond."

Deputy Finance Director Mubeen Qader speaks during Richmond’s first community budget meeting on April 9, 2026, outlining key elements of the city’s proposed spending plan.

The remainder is distributed to Contra Costa County, school districts, and regional agencies, including BART, AC Transit, and the East Bay Regional Parks District.

The General Fund makes up about 36.5 percent of the city's total $729 million budget. The rest moves through restricted accounts for capital projects, enterprise operations such as the Port of Richmond and wastewater system, state and federal grants, and bond debt service.

The city currently has approximately $296 million in grants awarded from various agencies. Its pooled investment portfolio has grown 46 percent since fiscal year 2020-21.

Accounting Manager Jerry Gurule noted that the city recently completed corrective actions required by a California State Auditor review.

"The city was under California state audit, which we have been removed from the high-risk designation," Gurule said. "So thank you to all the staff that put in the time and effort to implement all the recommendations."

The city is scheduled to hold one more community budget session before the draft goes to Council: Wednesday, April 22, 6 to 8 p.m., City Council Chambers, 440 Civic Center Plaza. Spanish interpretation will be provided. The meeting is also available via Zoom (Webinar ID: 953 6472 1794).

A final public session is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Council Chambers. The draft budget goes to City Council on May 5, with adoption scheduled for June 23.

Questions can be submitted to budget_helpdesk@ci.richmond.ca.us or (510) 620-6591. Budget documents are at www.ci.richmond.ca.us/4096/Community-Budget-Meetings.

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