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Page 2 of 4 Advisory Committee's activities and recommendations will be provided to the City Council. DISCUSSION Budget Town Hall On February 11, 2025, the City hosted a Budget Town Hall at the Pleasanton Library to engage the public on budget priorities and resource allocation for the FY 2025-27 budget. The Budget Town Hall was well attended, with more than 90 attendees, and was co-facilitated by Civic Makers - a program and service design firm - and City staff, with bilingual staff fluent in Mandarin and Spanish providing translation services. The Town Hall included a presentation covering a general fund overview, City financial challenges and future planning, and a program and service overview, followed by questions and answers from the attendees. Community members participated in various budget feedback activities, which included three stations: current City budget, programs/services, and budget process; budget reductions and other ideas to balance the budget (dot voting exercise); and kids’ activities. Town Hall Summary Report Findings In the Town Hall budget reduction exercise, participants were instructed to select up to six programs/services to keep (red dots) and up to 13 to cut/reduce across budget categories (blue dots). Analysis of the dot voting exercise shows the highest levels of support for reducing the following programs/services (total blue dots received are in parentheses below): • Planning & Building: Reduce plan checking, long-range planning and permitting consultant contracts (36) • Recreation: Restructure Recreation Programs (36) • Planning & Building: Eliminate the sustainability manager position (28) • Community Support: Reduce or eliminate City-funded School Crossing Guard Program (28) • Parks, Streets & Facilities: Reduce landscaping services citywide (25) • Community Support: Reduce Community Support and Subsidies (21) • Planning & Building: Eliminate Neighborhood Traffic-Calming Program (20) • Planning & Building: Reduce in-person permit counter service to 2.5 days/week (18) • Community Support: Restructure and Reduce Housing and Human Services Grants (16) Conversely, the top-voted programs/services participants want to retain are: • Library: Reduce Library Hours from 62 to 40 (64) • Fire: Close 1 Pleasanton Fire Station (41) • Planning & Building: Close the Dolores Bengtson Aquatic Center (40) • Community Support: Reduce Senior Center Hours (25) • Police: Reduce Special Enforcement and Investigation Units (21) Revenue-generating ideas received were categorized into five themes: 1. Business and Economic Development 2. Grants and Fundraising 3. Events and Hotel Taxes 4. Fees and Leasing 5. Housing and Development. Other budget reduction ideas received centered around reducing staff costs, canceling the gas-powered leaf blower ban, pausing capital projects, and evaluating whether to continue to be a full-service city. Analysis and feedback are also provided in the Town Hall Budget Engagement Summary Report (Attachment 1). Page 23 of 348