Cal City Might Close to Pass its Overdue Budget

Tonight, the City Council will be discussing the budget for the current fiscal year, which is already more than halfway completed.

The council meeting is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. today at City Hall, located at 21000 Hacienda Blvd. The event can also be accessed online or through Zoom. To find the links, please visit the official website of the city at californiacity-ca.gov.

The city has managed to keep functioning despite not having a budget in place at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. This has been made possible through a series of extensions of the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget. A delay was implemented to provide sufficient time for the development of a new budget that accurately reflects the current financial status and city spending priorities.

The budget being discussed tonight proposes an overall spending of $31.3 million, while expecting to generate $32 million in revenues. Based on the budget document, there has been a significant rise in expenses, amounting to $6.65 million or a 27% increase, as well as a boost in revenues, totaling $9.43 million or a 15.9% increase.

The General Fund, responsible for the city’s general government functions and accounting for approximately 25% of the budget, is projected to have revenues of $7.17 million. This represents a 5.7% decrease compared to the previous year.

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The budget for General Fund expenses has increased by approximately $1.5 million compared to the previous fiscal year, rising from $5.5 million to $7 million. In the General Fund, expenses have seen a significant increase, particularly in attorney fees. Budgeted at $1.5 million, this amount has doubled compared to the previous year, making up half of the overall increase in expenses.

The budget for the upcoming fiscal year consists of projected revenues totaling $16.5 million, alongside spending from special revenue funds amounting to $14.86 million. These funds are specifically allocated to various areas and account for half of the overall budget. In the previous year, there was a significant increase of 30.6% and 32.7% in these figures.

There has been a significant increase in the special revenue funds that are responsible for driving these numbers. One of the main contributors is the OHV grants, which have seen a substantial jump from $14,000 last year to an impressive $2 million in revenue this year. Additionally, the streets and street capital improvement funds have also experienced a noteworthy surge, with a combined total of $5.8 million in revenues compared to just $690,000 last year.

The rise in revenues for street and street capital projects can be attributed to a significant increase in gas tax revenues, amounting to nearly $500,000, as well as $4.6 million in state and federal funding allocated for specific improvement projects.