The City of Santa Barbara is set to tackle its budget at Tuesday's meeting and make decisions about funding for housing, parks, the waterfront and other spending priorities.
The City of Santa Barbara is set to tackle its budget at Tuesday's meeting and make decisions about funding for housing, parks, the waterfront and other spending priorities. Credit: Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo

It’s a $577 million budget, but about $5 million of that is getting most of the attention at Santa Barbara City Hall.

The City Council is scheduled to begin budget deliberations at its 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday, before a final vote scheduled for June 17.

Community organizations are pushing for the city to set aside $5 million for the Housing Trust Fund. Right now, the city’s proposed budget has $1.5 million set aside for the Housing Trust Fund in fiscal year 2026 and another $1.5 million in fiscal year 2027. 

The decision to fund the Housing Trust Fund has highlighted policy differences among members of the City Council and illustrated differences in budget priorities.

“We have seen how providing affordable housing units has provided stability in our community and also has contributed back to our workforce,” said Ana Arce, a policy advocate for Central Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, CAUSE. “When we continue to invest in housing, when we continue to invest in our workforce, by that byproduct we then contribute to our economic growth and creating Santa Barbara to be a more beautiful location for people to come and visit and also live here.”

Community groups such as the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara and CAUSE are among the groups pushing for $5 million toward the Housing Trust Fund.

“Yes, public safety, parks, libraries and other community services are critical, but none of them function without a stable foundation,” said Rob Fredericks, executive director of the Housing Authority. “Housing, a place to live, is that foundation.”

Fredericks and Arce were among the speakers at last week’s budget workshop.

“Without an affordable place to live, our workforce, seniors and disable residents are left behind,” Fredericks said.

He said the proposed cuts to federal housing programs, including slashes to Section 8 vouchers, make the local funding more critical.

The housing discussion is one of many big and little decisions the council will have to make over the course of the next two weeks. Changes are coming to each department, including a multitude of minor fee increases for the Santa Barbara Waterfront, Public Works Department and Planning Division, as well as changes to the downtown parking fee structure.

In a separate Finance Committee hearing earlier in the day, the city is scheduled to discuss its reserves policy. Some have advocated that the city should reduce the amount of its reserves to fund affordable housing so the money is put to work now, rather than sit in an account.

The City of Santa Barbara has a 25% reserve policy — 15% for disasters and 10% contingency. Councilwoman Meagan Harmon has suggested lowering the contingency reserve funds by up to 2%.

Here’s a link to the city’s budget. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 735 Anacapa St.

— Noozhawk South County editor Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.