FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2022
Media Contact
Rachel Davis, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Liccardo, 408.712.9149, rachel.davis@sanjoseca.gov
SAN JOSÉ, CA -- San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced today that the city’s general purpose reserve will reflect 8% of the general fund operating expenses, representing the largest reserve in at least two decades. As the Mayor underscored in his June budget message, for the first time in decades projections for San José’s general fund reflect a very modest surplus over the next five years, primarily attributable to reductions in retirement costs and rising revenues. Mayor Liccardo urges caution as he pushes to bolster the city’s fiscal condition amid a looming national economic downturn.
“As we see the clouds gathering, it’s time to tighten our belts and bolster our City’s reserves to weather the economic storms ahead,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Recessions have deep and difficult impacts, but good preparation and fiscal discipline can soften the blow.”
By comparison, the city’s reserves represented only 5% of the general fund prior to the last great recession in 2007-2008.
The City of San Jose will experience a long-term decline in the cost for retirement benefits for the next decade, as a result of our longstanding efforts to implement pension reform in collaboration with employees and residents who overwhelmingly supported Mayor Liccardo’s reform proposal in 2016. “The dividend of these many years of sacrifice and belt-tightening today provides the resources that are helping us to get homeless residents housed, expand our police department, expand library hours, and restore other essential services,” noted Liccardo
The City Council is set to hear the City Manager’s Annual Report Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
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