Quick Take
The Watsonville City Council approved the city’s 2025-26 budget plan at its meeting Tuesday night. The new plan removes 14 vacant positions and implements a 1% reduction in operational expenses for all city departments.
The Watsonville City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to permanently remove 14 vacant city jobs and increase fees at public facilities to narrowly avoid a deficit in its $309 million budget.
To help balance the city’s budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins July 1, City Manager Tamara Vides ordered a 1% reduction in operational costs to all city departments funded by taxpayer dollars — known as the general fund.
The cuts will save the city nearly $450,000 across all departments, according to Marissa Duran, administrative services director for the city.
Of the 14 positions across eight departments that the city council opted not to fill, three were cut due to the expiration of one-time grants that funded them. The job cuts and 1% reduction in operational costs were “key items” to help balance this year’s budget, Duran told the city council on Tuesday.
In addition to cuts, the council approved increasing hourly rental rates to city-owned facilities, such as the Veterans Memorial Building, Ramsay Park Family Center and the Watsonville Youth Center, by at least $5 to $10 per hour depending on the facility. Hangar rental and storage fees at the Watsonville Municipal Airport will also increase.
Despite not facing a deficit this year, Duran noted that the city could face financial hurdles in the future. Watsonville’s biennial proposed budget plan, published last month, projected a deficit in its budget starting at $320,000 in fiscal year 2027-28 and possibly growing to more than $1.1 million by 2029-30.
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