Tell Us Your Priorities

• Contenido del sitio web en español
• Repartir en español
• Invitación al ayuntamiento

• Encuesta en español. Email para communityrelations@palmdesert.gov

Maintaining Palm Desert City Services

The City of Palm Desert is committed to upholding our residents’ quality of life through maintaining local services, such as 911 police, fire and paramedic emergency response, cleaning, maintaining, and improving streets, roads, and public areas, and maintaining senior programs and community parks.

Palm Desert was incorporated 50 years ago this year. Like many cities in California, it is facing rising costs for services, as well as aging infrastructure and fewer resources to maintain amenities, services, and buildings. Rises in the costs for public safety and emergency medical response, as well as the loss of the City's Redevelopment Agency resources to the State legislature, are among the factors driving these challenges.

The City's fiscal outlook is relatively stable for now, but the City's expenditures are projected to increase at a faster rate than the revenue growth in coming years. The City's General Fund is responsible for local services, including public safety, streets and roads, parks, stormwater facilities, libraries, and economic development. Any projected deficit may significantly impact service levels in the community. As the City looks to develop its next budget, it would like to hear from residents about their priorities.

Attend a Town Hall Meeting

The City of Palm Desert would like to invite you to our upcoming Town Hall meetings so the public can hear information on the City’s finances and ask questions to our Director of Finance, Veronica Chavez. While the City is in a sound financial position, we are currently facing a number of challenges that may impact the budget in future years. We look forward to your attendance and feedback at the following meetings:

• May 21st at 9:00 a.m. at the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens: 47900 Portola Ave, Palm Desert, CA 92260
• May 22nd at 12:00 p.m. at the Palm Desert Country Club Association: 77800 California Dr, Palm Desert, CA 92211
• May 22nd at 5:30 p.m. at the University of California Riverside-Palm Desert: 75080 Frank Sinatra Dr, Palm Desert, CA 92211
• May 29th at 5:30 p.m. at Palm Desert City Hall: 73510 Fred Waring Dr, Palm Desert, CA 92260
  • The May 29 meeting will be held in a hybrid format. For a link to view the meeting online, please click here.

Click here for an flyer on the Town Hall events in English and Spanish.

Meet Our Staff & Learn About the Many Projects and Programs at the City of Palm Desert.

Maintaining 911 Emergency Medical, Police, and Fire Response Services

Overall, spending on public safety accounts for roughly 30% of overall General Fund expenditures, and Palm Desert is ranked as one of the safest cities in southern California. However, it faces the same challenges that many other cities are facing in the current environment. Burglaries, thefts, and other property crimes are also increasing throughout the Coachella Valley. In Palm Desert, vehicle thefts have risen as much as 30% in recent years.

Fire Station 71, located at Country Club and Portola in Palm Desert, was recorded as having among the highest calls for service in the entire nation - and over 80% of all calls to the Fire Department in Palm Desert are responses to medical emergencies, accidents, or rescues.

Palm Desert is also a growing community. As many as 7,000 new housing units will bring almost 9,000 new residents to north Palm Desert over the next five years. A new firehouse will be required to serve our growing community and to maintain emergency response times.

Keeping Public Areas Safe and Clean

Palm Desert takes pride in its parks and constantly works to improve its recreational facilities, libraries, and other public spaces. Together, these assets contribute to our neighborhoods and help support local businesses and visitors to our City. The City strives to maintain its public areas, as well as develop new areas such as a community and regional park in North Palm Desert.

Some challenges in this arena include deferred maintenance, required ADA upgrades, and damage from recent storms. Additionally, with the loss of Redevelopment Agency resources, the City continues to defer certain maintenance due to costs.

Addressing Homelessness

As it is in cities throughout California, homelessness is on the rise in the Coachella Valley. The City, in partnership with the County of Riverside, has a team of professionals who provide an array of services to those looking to overcome homelessness. Available services include referrals related to mental health, substance abuse treatment, medical care, and housing assistance. The City also has a newly formed dedicated task force on the issue. From a housing standpoint, the City has approved over 4,600 new housing units and is in various stages of pre-development, including more than 1,000 new affordable units.

Maintenance of Streets, Roads, and Storm Drains

Recent heavy rain and strong windstorms have damaged local roads and stormwater infrastructure. Consequently, the city must commit additional resources to ensure that our local streets and roads continue to meet City standards. This involves tapping into City reserves for the necessary reconstruction, as well as identifying funding for new infrastructure to improve flood mitigation.

Road safety repairs will also be required, and it will cost less to make the repairs now than to wait due to escalating costs. Maintaining storm drainage infrastructure in good working condition is also important, as we have seen in recent years.

Maintaining the City's Long-Term Finances

The City’s revenues have begun to recover post-pandemic, and the budget for next year maintains existing service levels and prudent reserves in its General Fund. That said, with the deferral of many projects and their replacement costs and the opening of a new fire station, ongoing expenditures are projected to quickly outpace projected revenues.

The City's expenditures are also projected to increase at a faster rate than the revenue growth in coming years. In particular, increasing public safety costs will place pressure on the City's budget. Less available resources coupled with increasing operating costs will present challenges in the City's ability to balance future budgets. To maintain the City’s long-term finances, staff has begun developing strategies to identify ongoing efficiencies, cost savings, and potential new local revenue options.