Cupertino cancels fireworks show due to budget shortfall

Cupertino is canceling its famous fireworks show this year to make up for a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall. Daytime activities, including a pancake breakfast and a children’s parade, will still take place on July 4. (Photo by Rick Zerby)

Where are the Cupertino fireworks? The city’s annual show usually takes place in a local park and is a highlight for residents every Fourth of July. But this year, it’s being cut short. Cupertino canceled it to help cover a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, leaving some residents disappointed.

Cupertino resident Tom Sanford had been attending the shows for 15 years, ever since his now-adult children were small. He appreciated the show’s proximity to his home, compared to those in Santa Clara or Mountain View.

“We usually went to Creekside and had a blanket set up,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe how many people were in there.”

In approving its $146.6 million budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Cupertino City Council cut $8.7 million from operating and maintenance expenses, infrastructure projects and city-sponsored community events — such as fireworks — to close a $15 million deficit.

The city will see a $30 million drop in tax revenue over the next few years. Last year, the city council eliminated more than a dozen vacant positions and cut contract services and special projects to help cut the deficit in half.

“We prioritized partnerships, actively involving City Council and residents in budget discussions,” said Deputy City Manager Tina Kapoor. “The input and recommendations from this engagement helped ensure our budget meets the needs of the community.”

Last month’s decision came after a 2023 state audit found that Cupertino improperly collected sales tax funds from Apple. Since 1998, the tech giant has treated all online purchases of products in California as if they were made in Cupertino, under a law that reviews orders based on the location of the sale, not the customer’s location. The settlement would have allowed the city to collect 1% of Apple’s 7.25% sales tax, with a third of the revenue going to the company.

Cupertino now owes the state a one-time refund of $56.5 million, the estimated amount of tax revenue the city collected from Apple between April 2021 and June 2023. The amount will be paid from reserves, but the city says it needs to make $30 million in cuts to prepare for the upcoming revenue loss.

The city of Cupertino will save $123,344 by canceling the fireworks show. Other city-funded community benefits that were cut this year include Shakespeare in the Park, which cost $30,000 to operate. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, the nonprofit performing arts group that brings free 90-minute Shakespeare shows to Cupertino residents, has held a fundraiser to keep its shows going this summer.