How Does Mountain View Spend Your Money and Other News

Dear Friends,

The last public hearing for the 2021-22 budget was on Tuesday, June 8th and the vote to approve the budget will be June 22nd. You can review the budget and background reports here.

The overall numbers are very similar to last year, but what is NEWS related to the budget is that this year we are looking at the specific resources and expenditures through an equity lens considering these two questions:

1. Does this benefit communities of color and/or low-income residents?
2. Does this burden communities of color and/or low-income residents?

Have you ever wondered how the City spends its money and where does it
come from? Here are some interesting breakdowns from the City’s 2020-21 budget as summarized in The Financial View.

Revenues:

Expenditures:

Other important news: The eviction moratorium is set to expire at the end of this month. No one really knows for sure how many households will be evicted. I asked Community Services Agency (CSA) what they thought was the magnitude of the problem. They evaluated data from their client base and estimate that as many as 1,000 to 1,200 will be at risk of eviction in their service area. To give needed time to get the funding the State has allocated, but not distributed yet, the Mountain View City Council asked our City Attorney to prepare an ordinance. Of course, it would be much better if the State extended theirs. If you agree, please consider contacting our members of the Legislature (senator.becker@senate.ca.gov; marc.berman@asm.ca.gov) and Governor Newsom about this.

Summer is almost here. June 22nd is the last Council meeting before our summer break. Next meeting will be August 24th.

Now that I am fully vaccinated, I am looking forward to meeting with others.

Thanks!

Pat Showalter
Councilmember
City of Mountain View