By Sara Beth Williams–
Citrus Heights City Manager recently praised the City Council’s passage of the 2026-2027 budget, emphasizing that “A good budget reflects good decisions made over time.”
“We look beyond the year ahead, consider the long-term cost of each commitment and preserve the flexibility to respond when circumstances change,” Feeney said in an open letter to the community published on the city’s website.
Feeney emphasized that the budget is balanced, maintains healthy reserve levels, and continues to support services residents expect.
The city recently published a Budget in Brief, or a document highlighting the city’s budget at a glance, in which the city states that 58 percent of General Fund spending specifically supports police services, and that total revenue exceeds $47 million.
The document also highlights funding revenue sources, funding expenditures, and breaks down how much sales tax and property taxes the city retains for every $100 spent.
The city budget in brief also shows $33 million in its reserves, which is above the policy requirements. Reserves are important because they protect the city’s essential services during emergencies, economic downturn, or when unexpected costs arrive, the city states. The minimum requirement for reserves is to maintain a level that would cover two months of expenses. However, the city said their reserve level would currently cover eight and a half months of expenses if necessary.
The document also explains succulently how budget decisions are made, emphasizing that public safety, core operations and City Council priorities receive first consideration.
As well, General Fund uses and Capital Fund uses are broken down. Feeney highlighted the city’s continued focus on infrastructure, citing $4 million from the General Fund allocated toward improving more streets.
Overall, the city’s Capital Improvement Program directs $18.3 million in grants, restricted funds and resources toward infrastructure, according to the city.
$8 million in Capital Funds is listed as being invested in pavement restoration, with another $4.4 million toward complete streets projects. Additionally, the city lists investments of $3 million for traffic, bike and pedestrian enhancements, $1.5 million for trails, $800,000 toward bridges, $415,000 toward facilities and technology, and $125,000 toward stormwater.
Some have criticized the city’s recent decision earlier in the summer to dissolve the Citrus Heights Police Department’s dedicated traffic unit as part of a long-range budget forecast decision.
According to the city, the restructuring is expected to save $975,000 during the 2026-27 fiscal year and roughly $1.24 million the following year. Savings largely offset the estimated $1.11 million cost of the labor agreement compensation packages.
City Council Candidate Charles Stone has spoken out against the Traffic Unit’s dismantling and restructuring of the police department, telling The Sentinel in an interview that the restructuring motivated him to run for City Council this upcoming election. Stone alleges the city has a high rate of violent crimes based on online crime data, and said that the city should be maintaining a “fully staffed” police department, not cutting positions, even through arbitration.
Following the approval of restructuring the Police Department along with labor agreement packages, an anonymous letter posted to several Citrus Heights social media groups, written by an individual claiming to be directly impacted by the elimination of the Traffic Unit, alleged that the Police Department will no longer able to address citizen traffic complaints, and fatal traffic accident investigating will be more difficult.
In response to questions regarding services that may be less effective due to the loss of the Traffic Unit, the department said in a statement via email that an on-call traffic investigator will still be available for the Operations Division to utilize when needed.
Additionally, the Police Department plans to establish a Major Accident Investigations Team, which will be modeled after the current SWAT team.
