BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Bakersfield City Council approved the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget Wednesday night, a nearly $927 million spending plan that passed on a 5-to-1 vote.<\/p>\n
Before the vote, dozens of residents addressed the council during public comment, with expanding low-cost spay and neuter services and increasing tree planting among the top priorities raised.<\/p>\n
“This funding for mobile low-cost spay and neuter isn’t just a budget item, it’s prevention, it’s the difference between a managed community and an overwhelmed one,” one public speaker said.<\/p>\n
Robbie Miller, founder of SOS Dog Rescue, echoed that call.<\/p>\n
“Animals are being abandoned, born on the streets and suffering in our neighborhoods. We need to stop the suffering before it starts,” Miller said.<\/p>\n
Resident Eddie Lane urged the council to redirect existing funds toward planting new trees.<\/p>\n
“We urge the city council to re-allocate $500,000 from trimming and removal to the planting of trees,” Lane said.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Andrae Gonzales highlighted that Bakersfield has planted more than 2,200 trees since 2022 and confirmed this year’s budget includes funding that could plant hundreds more. Ward 1 Councilmember Eric Arias said the city should go even further.<\/p>\n
“I think based on the feedback that we’ve heard over the past several months is that we could be doing certainly more,” Arias said.<\/p>\n
Not all council members supported the plan. Ward 3 Councilmember Ken Weir criticized the size of the budget, arguing the city needs to slow spending and focus on long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n
“This is basically a billion-dollar budget for one year, that’s unfathomable,” Weir said.<\/p>\n
The council ultimately approved the budget after increasing funding for tree planting and urban canopy expansion to $500,000, adding $100,000 for spay and neuter services, and adding $900,000 for fire rescue apparatus.<\/p>\n
The nearly $927 million spending plan continues to prioritize public safety, with roughly 62% of the general fund dedicated to police and fire services.<\/p>\n
Weir voted against the budget. Councilmember Bob Smith was absent. The new fiscal year begins July 1.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Bakersfield City Council approved the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget Wednesday night, a nearly $927…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,162],"class_list":["post-374284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-kern-county-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}