El Cerrito’s Fiscal Oversight: Missed Opportunities and the Urgent Need for Strategic Staffing and Pension Reform

In March 2023, the state auditor recommended that El Cerrito should evaluate its staffing levels prior to undertaking the Classification and Compensation Study. Despite this advice, El Cerrito proceeded to solicit proposals for a comprehensive classification and compensation study. This study aims to assess the city’s organizational structure, compensation practices, and policies. The outcome of the Class and Comp study is expected shortly.

However, El Cerrito missed a critical opportunity to not only adjust salaries appropriately but also to utilize this as a strategic tool for ensuring financial sustainability. By analyzing its staffing requirements, the city could have gained insights into the cost implications of different job classifications. This would enable informed decision-making regarding the staffing levels and types of positions the city can sustainably support, along with the services it can feasibly provide.

A year prior, the state auditor had also urged the city to cut pension expenses. El Cerrito has begun to address this issue, with the police chief and fire chief, who are union members, agreeing to cover a greater share of their pension costs. This was highlighted in the city’s updates in September 2021 and March 2022. Yet, other employee unions have resisted deferring salary increases, which could help manage pension expenditures, including the $85 million the city hasn’t paid.

Moreover, the structure of fire services in the region, involving mutual aid agreements, highlights another area of concern. El Cerrito and Kensington, with a combined population under 30,000, maintain three fire stations and four battalion chiefs, equating to approximately one fire station per 9,000 residents. In contrast, Richmond supports seven fire stations for a population exceeding 115,000 or one station per 16,500 residents. With 20,000 residents, Albany operates a single fire station without battalion chiefs.

To prevent further depletion of its already limited reserves, El Cerrito urgently needs to address its salary and pension costs. The city’s reserves had $16 million, but continuing to balance the budget with withdrawals is the same practice that led to the collapse. And with recent withdrawals of over $1 million, leaving approximately $4 million in unrestricted reserves, which is significantly below the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) recommended level. This financial strain emphasizes the need for strategic fiscal management and cost reduction measures.

 Here is more on how you can help:

Inform the City Council and City Manager that you seek sustainable long-term solutions to the fiscal crisis.

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• Attend the monthly Financial Advisory Board meetings in person.
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• Voice your concerns with the Council.
• Council meetings are remote and in-person, but public comment is currently to in-person attendees.
• If you want to contact City Council Members or the City Manager, all their emails are below:
• Karen Pinkos-City Manager kpinkos@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilperson Gabe Quinto gquinto@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilperson Carolyn Wysinger cywysinger@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilperson Tessa Rudnick trudnick@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Mayor Lisa Motoyama lmotoyama@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilperson Paul Fadelli pfadelli@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us