State of the City: Mayor, city manager reflect on 2024, share goals for 2025

By Sara Beth Williams–
Dozens of business owners, residents, city leaders, and regional representatives gathered at City Hall in Citrus Heights for the annual State of the City address.

Over 70 attendees were reported, according to city spokesperson Marisa Brown. During the Nov. 14 address, Citrus Heights Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa and City Manager Ash Feeney provided insights and reflections on the last year and highlighted future goals for 2025.

Community Engagement
Karpinski-Costa spotlighted the city’s new Volunteer Hub and highlighted several community events, including the Arcade Cripple-Creek multi-use trail grand opening, the City Scoop summer series, the Stars and Stripes celebration, and the second annual Good Neighbor Week.

“We’re incredibly proud of all these initiatives which allow our residents to connect with one another and with our city,” Karpinski-Costa said. The mayor also highlighted the addition of several businesses like HomeGoods, Club Studio Fitness, and Amazon Fresh, saying that new businesses help “propel our community” and strengthen the local economy.

Karpinski-Costa highlighted Dark Heart Brewing, which relocated to Citrus Heights thanks to the Business Attraction Incentive Program, an initiative propelled by the Department of Economic Development and Community Engagement meant to attract new businesses to the city by offering financial assistance. The brewery is scheduled to open sometime in November, according to the company’s Facebook page.

City Finances
Feeney spoke on continued efforts to maintain financial transparency and sustainability and emphasized the importance of maintaining a healthy reserve fund, noting that $5.7 million was deposited into the city’s reserve fund last year. Having a healthy reserve fund allows the city to “weather tough times,” address unexpected rises in costs, and pursue one-time grant-matching opportunities. Feeney said.

Funding from the city’s reserves was recently used to purchase a property on Old Auburn Road, which was once home to the Citrus Heights Preschool. Feeney has not said with certainty what the property will be used for, saying during the address that the property “could potentially serve as a community resource” to help control “future costs.”

The city manager mentioned as well that the city experienced a “140 percent” increase in costs with the previous animal services contract. In September, the City Council voted to approve a new 5-year contract with Bradshaw Animal Shelter, moving away from utilizing Placer County Animal Services.

For the fiscal year of 2024-25, Feeney said the city has a “well balanced” budget with an estimated $45.5 million in revenues that exceed expenditures by $500,000.

“This carefully crafted budget ensures that we’re financially well positioned to continue advancing our community priorities, including critical infrastructure investments, public safety enhancements, and economic growth,” Feeney said.

Public safety/homelessness
The mayor discussed the Beautification Crew, saying the team has collected over 70 tons of trash and debris from around the city. Feeney reported that the Citrus Heights Police Department has hired 23 new staff members, which has helped specialty units within the department to better address many quality-of-life issues.

Feeney also reported that the department has utilized the funds from a $2.7 million organized retail theft grant awarded last year to hire another Realtime Information Center operator and a part-time detective to help combat and prevent organized retail theft throughout the city.

Feeney said the city and its police department are “optimistic” that the combination of the passage of Prop 36 and new enforcement tools in place will “ease the burdens” for businesses throughout the city. He also said police have removed 3.7 pounds of fentanyl from the streets this year.

Feeney highlighted the efforts of the Community HealthWorks program, which has connected 95 individuals to essential services, and helped 24 individuals find housing. The Community HealthWorks program was supported and funded through a Sacramento County budget allocation award through Supervisor Sue Frost.

More than $737,000 in funding was distributed last year to “critical programs” administered through nonprofits including Meals on Wheels, Sunrise Christian Food Ministry and Citrus Heights HART, Feeney said.

Infrastructure maintenance
Feeney highlighted public works projects that have been completed and are currently underway, including Phase 1A of the San Juan Complete Streets Project, which is wrapping up, and Phase One of the Auburn Boulevard Complete Streets project, which is underway.

Additional projects will begin in the spring, Feeney said, including resurfacing projects on Dewey Drive and Sunrise Boulevard.

Lastly, Feeney reported that the Three-Year Pavement Preservation Plan has increased street resurfacing goals from just two miles to 52 miles annually. More than 100 streets have been identified for resurfacing according to the city’s website.

Related: Citrus Heights aims to fix pothole ‘plague’ with comprehensive repair plan

Both Feeney and Karpinski-Costa thanked the city staff and multiple local and regional partners and organizations for their efforts throughout the last year. Feeney also thanked each current city council member, including the mayor and vice mayor.

“As we look toward the future, I’m filled with optimism for what we can achieve together,” Feeney said in closing.