FREMONT — Fremont metropolis officers are warning that financial progress could also be stunted over the following 12 months, at the same time as some residents are demanding extra funding for companies for the unhoused following strict bans on tenting in RVs or in tents.
The Bay Space’s fourth largest metropolis proposes an working funds of $422.6 million, with $277.8 million in its common fund, in accordance with Fremont officers. At a Might 13 assembly, residents requested the Metropolis Council to push cash towards homeless companies and different metropolis applications.
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Liz Ames, the District 6 BART director for Fremont, requested council to indicate “promise” that homeless residents have a “housing solution.” She additionally requested that the town scale back the quantity of police personnel tasked with eradicating homeless camps and momentary shelters.
“We don’t have a place for those folks to go and it’s just a vicious cycle of moving the homeless encampments around the city with no solution,” Ames stated.
This comes as the town is preventing in federal courtroom over its lately proposed homeless tenting ban, which is without doubt one of the strictest within the state. The ban, which was amended to take away an “aiding and abetting” clause, may have punished somebody for serving to homeless residents by offering tents or different momentary shelter that the town thought of tenting “paraphernalia.” Town final fall additionally handed a RV tenting ban, which requires giant vans and different “oversized” autos, comparable to RVs, transfer at the least 1,000 ft inside 24 hours and limits parking on metropolis streets to only 72-hours.
“Our unhoused residents are facing almost daily crises. They need a safe place to sleep until adequate safe and secure shelters can be provided for all in need,” resident William Bain wrote to council in an e mail forward of the funds listening to.
Each Ames and Bain requested the council to direct their consideration and assets to Fremont’s five-year Homeless Response Plan, adopted on Might 21, 2024. The plan outlines metropolis targets to cease the expansion of homelessness, improve pathways to housing and scale back the impacts of homelessness. In keeping with the town’s proposed funds for the 2025-26 fiscal 12 months, the town is planning to spend about $5.8 million on homeless companies, with an estimated $2.7 million left to spend in a homeless companies fund.
In an interview this week, Mayor Raj Salwan stated there’s not a lot wiggle room left for added funds for unhoused residents or the Homeless Response Plan. Salwan stated the town is ready on “a good chunk” — a whole bunch of thousands and thousands in funds — from Measure W, a 10-year tax hike voters handed in November 2020. Fremont at present has its fingers tied on producing any extra sources of funding for addressing homelessness, the mayor stated.
“We just have limited resources at this time. At this point, we can’t expand on that,” Salwan stated. “We want to do our part, but we’re also waiting on the county.”
Finance Director David Persselin advised council through the funds listening to that whereas President Trump’s proposed tariffs are anticipated to decelerate the nation’s financial system, residents domestically gained’t really feel the consequences till later. Some companies have been buying items at pre-tariff costs and promoting them decrease than market costs with the tariffs, Persselin stated. As soon as these items are bought out – maybe by the top of June – then costs will inflate extra considerably and the native financial system will seemingly begin to gradual, he stated.
He projected the impacts of Trump’s tariffs gained’t be felt till at the least after the primary quarter of the following fiscal 12 months, both in November or December this 12 months.
“It will be a while before we really know how things are playing out,” Persselin stated.
The state by this 12 months can also be ending recouping the $37 million in overpaid gross sales tax to Fremont, which started in 2022. Town was in a position to repay the vast majority of the unintentional tax hiccup by drawing down its monetary reserves from about $24.2 million to a meager $6.7 million, leaving the town of over 230,000 residents with a restricted cushion within the face of any financial collapse.
“Won’t an actual recession leave us with nothing left?” Councilman Raymond Liu requested Persselin.
Persselin stated the remaining reserves would depart the town with “at least a little bit of cushion” in a “full-blown recession.” He added officers would come again to the council at a later date if the funds wanted rebalancing.
Salwan requested if another federal cash is on the chopping block for Fremont due monetary selections coming from the nation’s govt department.
“We’re definitely at risk,” Persselin stated, noting that the feds have talked about doubtlessly chopping sure grant funding countrywide. “We are benefitting from certain grant programs in a number of areas – human services, public safety, capital projects.”
Fremont’s proposed funds reveals that the town expects to spend about 94% of its cash on police, hearth and upkeep work. Police will probably be taking the lion’s share of practically half of total spending. Final 12 months, the town spent over $118 million on police, with $123.5 million projected to be spent by the top of the fiscal 12 months in June.
In keeping with information obtained by this information group, Fremont spent over $6 million on police time beyond regulation by final 12 months, and practically $2.1 million on time beyond regulation by the start of April. Starting in January, the town provided a 2% elevate and a double time beyond regulation pilot program in an try and retain and rent extra officers, with officers citing problem in staffing the division’s pressure of over 150 rank-and-file officers.
Information present the town paid out about $1.4 million in double time beyond regulation by the start of April.
