Tiburon boosts parks funding in draft $28.38 million budget

Tiburon officials directed staff to put an additional $1.5 million toward parks in next year’s budget, responding to residents who pressed the town for a firmer commitment to its recreational amenities.

The Town Council gave the direction June 3 as it reviewed a draft $28.38 million budget for fiscal year 2026-2027. The council took no final action, and its directives will trim that figure to about $27.88 million in the revised budget it is scheduled to adopt June 17. Councilmember Holli Thier was absent.

The $1.5 million combines $1 million transferred from the town’s general-fund reserves with $500,000 freed by dropping a planned repair of the Elephant Rock fishing pier. Because the reserve money moves between town accounts rather than adding to spending, the budget total falls rather than rises. That $1.5 million is on top of $1 million already set to move into the parks fund in fiscal 2027, which begins July 1.

Parks and their costs ran through much of the discussion, and councilmembers also signaled openness to creating a finance committee to guide the town’s long-term revenue planning.

The draft’s $28.38 million total includes $19.13 million in day-to-day operating expenditures, nearly $8 million for infrastructure upgrades under the town’s capital-improvement program and $1.25 million in debt service. Dropping the $500,000 pier project will lower the revised budget returning June 17 to about $27.88 million and its associated capital-improvement program to roughly $7.5 million, Town Manager Greg Chanis said after the meeting.

Operating expenditures run just under the $19.15 million in revenue, a $21,642 surplus. Expenditures and revenue are each projected to rise 4.79% from the current fiscal 2026 budget.

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