Why El Cerrito Needs a Capital Renewal Plan Now

El Cerrito residents already pay a dedicated pool tax, yet the City Council is now considering using more of the General Fund reserves to repair the Swim Center’s lap pool. This isn’t about a lack of funding — it’s about how the City has managed (or failed to manage) the money it already collects.

A Tax With a Purpose

Voters approved the Measure H Recreation Facilities Tax specifically to maintain and repair parks and the Swim Center. Over the years, it has generated millions in restricted revenue intended to prevent precisely what’s now happening: costly, urgent repairs.

Those funds were supposed to build a reserve for capital renewal, ensuring that core assets like the Swim Center could be repaired on schedule rather than through one-off bailouts from the General Fund.

What the Staff Report Says

The staff presentation (Agenda Item 9B) asks the Council to “provide direction regarding use of the General Fund balance” for FY 2025-26 to cover the lap-pool renovation Packet. The report outlines cost options for resurfacing and mechanical repair, but stops short of explaining why the Recreation Fund and Measure H proceeds aren’t sufficient.

It’s a telling omission. The very existence of the pool tax should make a General Fund draw unnecessary — yet the City is poised to dip into reserves that are already relied upon to balance annual operations.

The Pattern

This move reflects a larger pattern in El Cerrito’s financial management:

• Dedicated revenues are routinely diverted to cover short-term operational gaps rather than long-term capital upkeep.
• Reserves are used as a plug, not a cushion.
• No true capital replacement plan exists to track facility lifecycle needs, leaving taxpayers to fund the same assets twice — first through special taxes, then again through emergency appropriations.

In 2021, the city declared a “fiscal recovery.” But continuing to drain reserves for predictable repairs undermines that progress and re-creates the structural deficit that residents were promised had been solved.

Why This Matters

The lap pool is only the latest example. Without disciplined planning, the same cycle will repeat with the Community Center, library, or street infrastructure. Each time, officials cite “unexpected” costs, even when those costs were entirely foreseeable.

The Fix

If El Cerrito is serious about fiscal stewardship, it must:

1. Audit Measure H collections and expenditures to show how much was spent on actual Swim Center maintenance.
2. Restore the Recreation Fund reserve and prohibit transfers out for non-capital uses.
3. Adopt a capital-renewal schedule that allocates annual funding from tax proceeds before any new discretionary spending.

Bottom line:
El Cerrito residents already pay for a functioning pool. They shouldn’t have to pay for it again through the City’s dwindling reserves. Using the General Fund to backfill what should have been funded all along is not maintenance — it’s mismanagement.