GALT, CA (MPG) - The City Council unanimously adopted a mid-term final appropriations adjustment to the city’s 2024-2026 budget along with establishing a new engineering classification in the Public Works Department as part of the consent agenda at its Oct. 21 meeting.

The budget adjustments were made in the Stormwater, Water, Wastewater, Capital Improvements-Water, Capital Improvements-Wastewater, Water Meter Financing, Solid Waste and CFD 2020-4 Liberty Ranch funds for Fiscal Year 2024-2025.

A staff report indicated nine budget adjustments, with six of the nine coming from non-cash appropriation requests for non-cash expenditures “recorded for compliance with reporting requirements.”

The three cash adjustments resulted in a $5.5 million expenses impact to the fiscal budget, $15,794 in the Capital Reserve Water Fund, $397,872 in the Solid Waste Fund and $5.1 million in the CFD 2020-2 Liberty Ranch Fund. With Liberty Ranch, the expenditure is for construction that has begun in the CFD, with a financing bond being issued.

“Adequate funding is available for Fiscal Year 2024-25 to fund the incurred expenses that require additional budget appropriation,” staff report in the report to council.

The report also listed several funding buckets where dedicated revenues had not been used in 2024-25 and would therefore be carried over into 2025-26. That included $173,600 in restricted funds were revenues are collected specifically for programs such as the Military Banner Program, Galt Youth Commission, Commission on Aging and the Walker Park Turf fund.

Unspent funding for capital improvement projects in 13 different funds ranging from Parks and Recreation, the General Fund, Water, Capital Improvements-Water, Sacramento Transportation Authority to Transportation and the Firing Range totaled over $23.65 million. Remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds restricted for designated City Council projects and programs carried over were $804,154.

The two-year budget passed by council in June 2024 balanced expenses and revenues in the first year at $81.9 million and $91.2 million in the second year 2025-26.

Council also approved the creation of specific job responsibilities and salary ranges for a Principal Civil Engineer in the Public Works Department. In addition to the duties of a Senior Civil Engineer, the Principal Civil Engineer will provide department-wide leadership in planning, design and implementation of projects; be the engineering authority for complex development review and infrastructure planning; supervise and mentor junior engineering staff such as assistant, associate and senior engineers and be the lead speaker at public project meetings.

Public Works Director John Griffin said the position will report directly to the deputy public works director. He said the intent with the position is to give the city more flexibility and a more competitive salary range to attract experienced engineers with 15 or more years in the field.

“This wouldn’t be a new position per se,” he added. “It would just be a different classification within the engineering series.”

The salary range for the position was listed on per month basis. With adjustments for costs of living, in 2025-2026, this ranged from $10,465 to $12,720; in 2026-2027 it ranges from $11,303 to $13,739 and in 2027-2028 it ranges from $12,207 to $14,838.

Finally, the council held a public meeting on the second reading of an ordinance the repeals and readopts the Galt Municipal Code’s chapter on Buildings and Construction along with adopting the 2025 editions of the California State Building Codes. The state codes address regulations ranging from electrical, mechanical, building structure, plumbing and fire systems to green building methods, energy conservation, historical and existing buildings “for the health and safety of occupants.”

Examples of state updates include new residential codes defining two-family dwellings with regards to fire and smoke protection, regulations on spray-applied foam insulation, defining sleeping loft area requirements and requirements for deck construction regarding deck beams and guard rail attachments.

Additionally, after reviewing the codes, city staff recommended preserving and retaining standards specific to hazards faced by the city and updating language “to be consistent with the new model codes and to codify existing processes and procedures.”

Council received an extensive report on the new codes at its Oct. 7 meeting, voting 4-1, Councilman Tim Reed voting nay, to approve the first reading and advance it to a second and final passage. At the Oct. 21, Reed expressed the same dissatisfaction with some of the codes that he said on Oct. 7, “Drives me nuts.”

Reed said his biggest issue with the new state codes is they represent an effort to move cities towards using nothing but electricity, eliminating natural gas and other fuels, but do not address challenges to cities or power companies.

Reed said California lacks the infrastructure to meet the proposed electrical requirements in the codes.

“That’s my big contention with this moving forward,” he said at the Oct. 21 meeting.