CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA PACKET

Page 4 of 5 • May–June 2025 Budget Workshop(s): proposed biennial budget and 5-year CIP • June 2025 City Council Meeting: operating and capital budget adoption This approach would save City funding by not engaging a consultant but would lose the benefit of engagement with the broader community who typically do not attend City Council meetings, which could have equity impacts. This additional community engagement is particularly critical in the current budget cycle, which is likely to include program and service cuts that could impact specific interest groups or marginalized communities. This approach would also eliminate the BAC, which would save staff time and associated internal costs, but would lose the opportunity for BAC members to collaborate with the City Manager to offer insights and recommendations on City program priorities and strategies. Alternative B: Budget Advisory Committee Only Another alternative is to only establish a Budget Advisory Committee, with no additional community engagement. The proposed BAC will represent key community stakeholders, enhancing and deepening public engagement in the budget development process. Retaining the BAC will preserve some elements of increased transparency and public engagement in compliance with the Brown Act beyond the traditional budget development approach outlined in Alternative A. However, without the recommended additional community engagement there is a risk of engaging with less diverse community members, and losing the benefit of input from a broad portion of the community. Alternative C: Community Engagement Only Staff could eliminate the BAC and focus only on community engagement efforts. This alternative would significantly reduce staff efforts to administer the BAC but would lose the benefit of the insights of a community committee. To deliver the full proposed scope of a town hall, two pop-ups and an online engagement tool, a consultant contract of up to $50,000 would still be needed to complete the engagement work in the time remaining, although the full contract authorization may not be used as additional staff time could be freed up by the elimination of the BAC. The consultant contract could also be eliminated entirely, in which case the scope of engagement could be reduced to a single town hall, to preserve some level of in- person community engagement. This would eliminate the online budget tool and other live events, such as pop-ups, which could save some consultant funds, but would minimize the reach and effectiveness of the engagement. A purely staff-led option would also lose the significant benefits of the consultant expertise in engagement design and data analysis. EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY The budget engagement plan aligns with the City's values of inclusion and sustainability by actively engaging diverse community representatives in addressing fiscal challenges to ensure recommendations reflect the broader community's needs. This approach is consistent with the City's ONE Pleasanton Strategic Plan Goal E. Building a Community Where Everyone Belongs. Additionally, the budget engagement work will support long-term financial sustainability, consistent with Goal A. Funding Our Future by identifying cost-effective solutions for maintaining high-quality services and infrastructure. OUTREACH No outreach was conducted, as this item is a routine matter of City business. Page 284 of 893