Fresno approves record $2.56 billion budget despite $34.5 million gap
Fresno’s new budget keeps eviction help, anti-violence funding and street work alive as leaders close a $34.5 million gap without layoffs.
Fresno leaders approved a budget that keeps eviction help, expands anti-violence work and puts money into street repairs, tree trimming and freeway trash pickup while the city closes a $34.5 million gap. The unanimous 7-0 vote on June 23 locked in a $2.56 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2026-27, the largest in Fresno history. Councilmembers filed 99 motions over roughly two weeks before the final plan passed.
Advance Peace received an additional $650,000 in unspent funds. That lift comes after the violence-prevention program lost a $2 million federal grant and laid off five employees, leaving its future uncertain. The added money is expected to support three more change agents and non-personnel costs.
The city also preserved housing and neighborhood-facing services. The Eviction Protection Program kept a $1.8 million allocation, and nonprofit spay-and-neuter work rose to $825,000, including a $300,000 match from Dogwood Animal Rescue. On the public-works side, the budget sets aside about $75 million for street and sidewalk construction, about $700,000 for freeway trash removal, and money to plant 1,000 new trees. Fresno also committed about $3.3 million to tree trimming on a 10-year cycle.
Larger capital spending still dominates the long view. About $1 billion is earmarked for 470 capital projects across Fresno, alongside funding for two firefighter drill schools, a new Fire Training Center and another Homeless Assistance Response Team. The budget avoids layoffs and cuts to employee pay and benefits, but Mayor Jerry Dyer said the city had to balance the books while contending with rising costs tied to previously negotiated contracts, facility leases, software agreements and inflation.
That pressure created a sharper divide over who should carry the social-service load. Councilmember Annalisa Perea told residents seeking social services and mental-health help to turn to Fresno County, which begins its budget process in the fall.
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