Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 5.B
Meeting Date: October 22, 2025
From: Kevin Biersack, Financial Services Director
Title: FY 2024/2025 Preliminary Financial Results
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is presented for information, discussion and direction only.
BACKGROUND:
The primary purpose of this presentation is to update City Council on the status of the City’s General Fund Year End Balance as of June 30, 2025 (FY 2024/2025). The City is closing the year with an almost $1.8M deficit for FY 2024/2025. This adjusts the City’s General Fund “savings account” balance to more than $39M. The City is ending FY 2024/2025 with a 52% Fund Balance reserve. In accordance with our Fund Balance policy adopted in 2014, it is essential the City maintain its Fund Balance at a minimum target balance of 33% of budgeted expenditures.
DISCUSSION:
General Fund Revenues
The City’s budgeted revenues in the General Fund for FY 2024/2025 were $65,383,355.
The actual revenues for FY 2024/2025 totaled $70,302,671. The actual revenues were 107.52% of the budgeted amounts. The revenue categories and the corresponding budget and actual amounts are provided in the tables below:
General Fund Expenditures
The City’s budgeted expenditures for FY 2024/2025 were $79,109,731. The actual expenses for FY 2024/2025 totaled $72,098,232. The actual expenses were 91.14% of the budgeted amounts. The actual expenditures by department and the corresponding budgets are provided in the table below:
The budgeted versus actual expenditures for salaries & benefits and operations are provided in the following table:
General Fund Summary
For fiscal year 2024/2025, the total revenues for the General Fund minus the total expenses results in a $1,795,561 deficit. When comparing the worse-case scenario of a budgeted deficit totaling $13,726,376, this represents a reduction of almost $12M in the actual deficit, summarized as follows:
The table below is a snapshot for FY 2024/2025 actuals and the next two year’s budgeted projections (the FY 2025/2026 and FY 2026/2027 biennial budget). To reemphasize the Fund Balance policy referenced above, it is essential the City maintain its Fund Balance at a minimum target balance of 33% of budgeted expenditures.
Measure W Summary
Withe the passage of Measure W in November 2024 and its subsequent implementation in April 2025, the FY 2024/2025 preliminary results for Measure W (Fund 151) are as follows:
The Measure W surplus is derived from the excess of actual revenues and expenditures establishing a yearend fund balance of $432,771.
Development Impact Fees Summary
For the AB 1600 funds, the ending cash balances for FY 2024/2025 are as follows:
Proprietary Funds Summary
The cash balances ending FY 2024/2025 for the proprietary funds are as follows:
FISCAL IMPACT:
Even with the better than anticipated year-end financial position for the FY 2024/2025 General Fund, the City must continue to manage expenditures carefully particularly due to the extraordinary fiscal impacts from both the ending of COVID-19 funding and outstanding Tropical Storm Hilary reimbursements. Regarding those reimbursements from the storm damage, the city has received only $169,385 to date of the $4,744,504 in total anticipated cost reimbursements from both Federal and State funding sources. It is for these types of extraordinary circumstances the City Council established a General Fund Balance Policy for the City’s “savings account” to have a minimum 33% target to be able to plan for such volatility.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal C: Fiscal Stability and Sustainability
Objective: Cathedral City has economically prospered by facilitating the investment of private dollars in high quality development which benefits the community. We remain financially solvent by instituting prudent fiscal policies and transparent financial practices.
ATTACHMENTS:
None