All news articles pertaining to Cupertino’s budget and financial situation.
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City Council Prioritizes Economic Growth, Fiscal Sustainability, and More in 2025-27 Cupertino City Work Program
In the March 18th City Council meeting, Mayor Liang Chao, Vice Mayor Kitty Moore, and Councilmember Ray Wang voted to approve the 2025-27 Cupertino City Work Program, which seeks to improve economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and public health and quality of life in Cupertino. Councilmembers Fruen and Mohan voted against the 2025-27 City Work Program.…
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Councilmember Sheila Mohan’s Luxury Ritz-Carlton Hotel Stay Raises Questions
An unusual expense is raising questions amongst Cupertino’s City Councilmembers and residents. Last year, while Cupertino was struggling with a fiscal deficit, City Manager Pamela Wu and current Councilmember Sheila Mohan (former Mayor) used city funds to cover luxury hotel stays at The Ritz Carlton in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India. Mohan and Wu had been visiting…
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Resident Uncovers $100K Cupertino Accounting Error
After discovering over $100,000 in funds designated for affordable housing instead went to pay off a YIMBY lawsuit, San José Spotlight reports that Cupertino is “scrambling fix what city officials are calling an ‘accounting error.’” As the City continues to struggle with its budget deficit and residents endure budget cuts, the latest error drew more…
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Cupertino’s 0% Interest Bank Account Raises Questions
As Cupertino continues to face a budget deficit and cut services, a growing number of residents are questioning why approximately $48M in city funds are being held in an account that earns zero interest. Councilmember Kitty Moore flagged the account to staff, who confirmed that it does not earn any interest. Cupertino uses its Wells…
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Latest Cupertino Budget Updates: January 2024
The January 17, 2024 City Council meeting to discuss potential budget cuts (“Service-Level Reductions (SLRs)”) revealed a bloated budget, long-standing accounting errors, and further confirmed out-of-control spending. There were no significant staffing reductions or cutbacks for City employees. A Closer Look at Service Level Reductions Remarkably, over $2.2M of the proposed Service Level Reductions were…
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Cupertino Considers Increasing Sales Tax Rate
On December 5, 2023, City Council voted to explore raising Cupertino sales taxes by 0.25% (to a total of 9.375%). The decision follows staff recommendations, and would poll the business community to understand whether they would be willing to vote for a 0.25% tax hike on the November 2024 ballot. Background Presently, Cupertino receives approximately $0.65 for…
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No Money, No Problem: Cupertino to Pursue Costly New City Hall, Despite Lack of Funding
On October 17th, 2023, a heavily-debated topic was presented at the Cupertino City Council meeting: whether or not the City should tear down and rebuild its City Hall. In order to fund the construction of a new City Hall, Council considered building high-density housing on City-owned properties, such as the current City Hall, Community Hall, and…
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Cupertino Anticipates Financial Deficit – Impacts Remain Unknown
Cupertino financial woes got a reality check when last-ditch efforts at the governor’s office failed to save its lucrative tax revenue sharing agreement with Apple. On October 17, 2023, staff proposed to set aside a $56.5M sales tax reserve, further worsening Cupertino’s impending budget deficit. Background Since 1998, Apple has assigned Cupertino as its point-of-sale…
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Budget Cuts to Hit Cupertino’s Park Maintenance, Pavement Quality, Community Events, and Capital Improvements
The City of Cupertino forecasts a $23.9M deficit from 2023-24. While Mayor Wei, Councilmember Fruen and Vice Mayor Mohan are fixated on persecuting elected officials they disagree with, our serious budgetary issues have gone unattended, which will result in cutbacks to services and personnel in all areas of the City. Here’s how the City plans…
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Cupertino City Hall: Renovate for $28M or Build New for $72M?
Structural Analysis Reports for our city hall confirm that the nearly 60-year-old structure does not meet current building standards; it needs to be retrofitted for seismic safety. City hall’s current configuration–with its main floor dominated by a room that hosted city council meetings before community hall was completed in the early 2000s–and outdated HVAC and…
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Non Profits: Not All are Charities
As we get to the end of the year, we wish all of you a happy and relaxing holiday season. It is also the season of giving, where we contribute to our favorite causes, often represented by charities we donate to. We often use the words non-profit organizations and charities interchangeably. However they are…
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CUSD: Dispelling Disinfo with Data
This email will debunk disinformation about CUSD with data. We also include video clips from Jerry Liu, a CUSD trustee who opposed school closure, who shares his experience and goes into more details. Disnfo #1: CUSD Budget Shortfall? No we have surplus! The big reason cited for the shutdown of schools was a projected budget…
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Restoring Financial Accountability in Cupertino
Do you know that an employee swindled nearly $800,000 from the City of Cupertino, running an embezzlement scam which lasted from 2000-2014, and was finally addressed in 2018. What is surprising is that a coterie of ex-Mayors of Cupertino, who were in the council prior till 2018, have been sending extremely inflammatory mails about the resident focussed council, which was elected for…
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Restoring Financial Accountability in Cupertino
Do you know that an employee swindled nearly $800,000 from the City of Cupertino, running an embezzlement scam which lasted from 2000-2014, and was finally addressed in 2018. What is surprising is that a coterie of ex-Mayors of Cupertino, who were in the council prior till 2018, have been sending extremely inflammatory mails about the resident focussed council, which was elected for…