City of Sacramento’s $66.2 Million Budget Deficit: Democrats to Cut Parks, Pools and Police

The City of Sacramento claims a $66.2 million budget deficit in its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026/27. Inquiring minds believe it is much higher.

The Sacramento City Unified School District now admits to a $171 million budget deficit, up from earlier estimates of $43 million. That’s a $128 million swing.

The more they fail, the more money they spend.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty‘s “Unsheltered Homelessness Six Point Plan Launch” to “address” homelessness, as if anything Democrats have done “addresses” homelessness other than to grow it, includes the creation of three “micro-communities,” each composed of 40 tiny homes. Seniors would pay 30% of their income to live in the 120-square-foot structures, placed on sites that offer electricity, bathrooms, showers and laundry, according to his office.

This is in addition to the $12.35 million “Encampment Resolution Funds grant” in 2025 from the California Department of Housing and Community Development “to purchase and construct additional tiny homes for homeless vagrants.

Mayor McCarty proposed this plan to “address” homelessness in 2026 (again?) knowing the size of the growing city budget deficit.

Are Sacramento’s homeless paid cash, cigarettes, and marijuana in exchange for signatures on California ballot petitions, as they are in Los Angeles? Maybe Sacramento is as creative, and needs a large homeless population to accomplish this gross voter fraud.

Now, the Mayor and City Council, all Democrats and a communist, propose to make cuts to the city budget, but not to McCarty’s “Unsheltered Homelessness Six Point Plan.”

In a deja vu, the Mayor and council propose layoffs, significant cuts to police, fire, parks and community centers, and increased parking fees.

Once again, they are cutting areas of the city budget which affect quality of life for the city’s residents… these days residents who pay taxes to support these services.

These cuts won’t amount to the size of the cuts needed. But the proposed cuts are meant to sting. They are meant to hurt us. And when the Mayor comes back in a few months with tax increase proposals, we are supposed to cower in fear, or else more quality of life services will be cut.

Democrats are willing to turn Sacramento into a bigger dystopia hellscape, just so they can continue to skim off homeless programs?

Why do they always threaten to cut police officers and fire fighters, when at least police are always understaffed?

Because it pleases their radical base. It’s an opportunity. Rather, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before,” said Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s White House Chief of Staff and henchmen.

Proposed cuts include eliminating violent crime reduction teams, internet crimes against children team and traffic enforcement teams, as well as reductions to dispatch and burglary units, according to a city staff report.

Capital Public Radio reported Other proposed cuts or reductions include:

• Approximately 40 vacant police positions and 20 vacant fire positions
• Dismantling Sacramento PD’s mounted police unit
• Cuts to community pools, including positions and pool hours
• Reduced discounts for community center and clubhouse fees for qualifying organizations
• Reduce funding and a potential relocation of the X Street Navigation Center for unhoused residents
• Ending the city’s use of Shotspotter technology, which tracks gunfire sound

What the City should be looking at is wasteful programs which serve the least number of people i.e. failing programs.

In January the Globe reported that Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty wants to nearly quadruple a real estate transfer tax to fund homeless housing. McCarty says this tax could generate at least $9 million each year to help first-time homebuyers, renters and the homeless, and he claims he can do this “without affecting most homeowners.”

Why should homeowners pay for first-time homebuyers, renters and the homeless? What an unaccountable pot of money for the Mayor to have access to.

“The tentative proposal would increase the city’s real estate transfer tax from 0.275% to about 1% — roughly from $2.75 to $10 per $1,000 in property value — but only on high-value transactions, likely targeting properties selling for more than $1 million or $2 million. The mayor said he expects it to help residents locally who are struggling with housing,” ABC10 reported.

If the Mayor is serious about helping first-time homebuyers and renters, he should work with the county to cut permitting, fees and regulations on home building. That’s a start. And taxpayers and homeowners should not be footing that bill.

Sacramento has provided tiny homes, renovated hotels, renovated SRO apartments, sheds and RV trailers to the drug-addicted homeless, most of which sit empty. The government-run homeless fraud needs to end rather than spending more taxpayer funding on the grift.

A $1 million home would fetch $2,750 at the current rate of $2.75 per thousand. That would balloon to nearly $11,000 under Mayor McCarty’s new “high-priced home” tax.

Tying his new “high-priced home” tax to homelessness is a dishonest way to get the tax passed by voters. Why not say “it’s for the children.”

Increasing taxes on the responsible property owners and taxpayers is the least creative “solution” and most punitive – on the people who already pay for everything that government spends.

Cutting police, parks and pools is also punitive – to the people who already pay for everything that government spends.