RESOLUTION NO. 25 022
A RESOLUTION OF THE CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING
CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL PROJECT POLICY
WHEREAS, the Cupertino City Council has identified a need to adopt a policy governing the creation of, acceptance of, and reporting of special projects; and
WHEREAS, on April 2, 2025, the City Council considered a proposed policy at a duly noticed special meeting of the City Council.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that:
1. The City Council hereby adopts the Cupertino City Council Special Project Policy attached hereto as Exhibit A. The Special Project Policy shall be effective on April 2, 2025.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a special meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino this 2nd day of April, 2025, by the following vote:
Members of the City Council
AYES: Chao, Moore, Fruen, Mohan, Wang
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
SIGNED:
Liang Chao, Mayor
City of Cupertino
Date
ATTEST:
Kirsten Squarcia, City Clerk Date
4/15/2025
4/15/2025
CITYCOUNCIL
SPECIALPROJECTS
POLICY
Policy Manual
Policy #25-022
Attachments:
N/ A
Effective Date:
April 2, 2025per Resolution 25-022
ResponsibleDepartment:
Administrative Services
Related Policies & Notes:
N/ A
City Council or Administrative Policy:
City Council
Purpose
To establishCity Council authority for the purpose and creationof SpecialProjectsfor inclusion and tracking aspart the City’sbudget process.
SpecialProjectsaredefinedasone-time, staff-initiatedprojectsthat requireCity Councilapproval due to the needfor budgetappropriationsthat exceeda department’s basebudget. Basebudget itemsarethebaselineappropriationsto continueoperationsatthecurrentlevel. In instanceswhere there aresufficient budget appropriations the City Manager must requestCity Council authority in the form of a consentagendaitem to reappropriate the funds asa specialproject. As discussedin the Special Project Reporting section below, these projects will continue to be reported in the SpecialProjectreports.
SpecialProjectsarenot meantto trackongoingoperationalcostslike streetpavementmaintenance, minor repairs, development projects which may span multiple fiscal years, or the purchase of equipment, unless the department needsto track theseexpensesbecauseof the use of restricted funds to pay for the equipment or materials. Ongoing operational costswill be included in the department’sbasebudgetor addedasanongoingbudgetappropriationrequesttotheCityCouncil.
Policy
This policy, including any amendments, shall be approved by City Council Resolution and shall be effectiveupon the policy’s adoption.
It istheobjectiveoftheCitytoensuretransparentfinancialreportingthatallowsCouncilmembers, residents, andstaffto trackexpendituresacrossmultiple fiscalyears.
This policy will be reviewed annually aspart of the proposed budget process.
City Manager Authorization
As part of the City’sproposedbudget process, departmentsmust submit for approval any new one- timeprojectsor initiativesthatrequireadditionalfunding. If approvedby theCity Manager, these Exhibit A
projects are included in the proposed and final budget for City Council consideration and approval.
Theserequestsare separateand are apart from the City Work Program (CWP) items, which are Council initiated and may beone-time and/or result in ongoing costs. Both types of projects require City Council appropriation approval.
City Council Approval and Questions
All SpecialProjectsapproved by the City Manager that require additional appropriations will be included in the proposedand final budgetsfor City Council approval. Theseprojectswill be presentedand discussedduring the budgetprocess, and appropriationsaddedupon approval.
Off cycle SpecialProjectcreation using the reappropriation of existing funds will be presented to City Council asa consent item for approval.
Any questionsfrom City Council regardingSpecialProjectsthat arepart of the regularSpecial Projectsreporting processdescribedin the sectionbelow will be answeredas part of the supplementalreport process. Questionsthat fall outside of the reporting processwill be responded to in a timely manner basedon the scopeof the question.
Special ProjectReporting
SpecialProjectswill beincluded in the departmental narratives of the proposed and final budget. A summaryof proposedSpecialProjectswill be included in the summarysectionof the budget messageanduponbudgetapprovalthislist will befinalizedaspartof thefinal budget.
As part of the quarterly financial reports, staff will report on the following items for all Special Projects:
AdoptionYear
Function - departmentthat has the specialproject, for exampleAdministration, which encompassesCity Manager and City Attorney.
Program - specificbudget unit (e.g., 120City Manager)
Baseand Detail Account with Detail Account description – the expenseaccount where the specialproject is budgeted, for example750-.056Neighborhood engagement. Specialproject accountnumbers areunique to one project.
Full Org SetCode and Description – Includes full account string (Fund-Div-Program) and description of the org set. For example, 100-12-632, where the first three digits are the fund, the next two digits are the division, and the last three digits are the program in which the specialproject is budgeted. GeneralFund-City Manager-Comm Outreach & Neighborhood Watch.
Amended Budget – This is the total budget in a fiscal year and includes new dollars added in proposed and any budgeted dollars that have beencarried forward from the prior fiscal year asof a given date, for quarterly report they include Sept-30, Dec-31and March-31.
Actual Amount – dollars spentasof a given date, seeamendedsectionabove.
Encumbrance – dollars encumberedeither through acontractor purchaseorder asof a given date.
Status – This includes completed, in progress, not started, started, pending and cancelled.
Outside Funding – identifies if outside funding is availablelike grants to fund the projects.
EstimatedCompletion – the date and month the SpecialProjectis expectedto becompleted.
Notes – this includes information that staff would like to make the council and residents aware of and includes future plans like a project being carried over or defunded, along with other updates.
This quarterly financial report is meant to be informative, and the City Council is not required to approve or take any action, other than to receivethe attachmentaspart of the financial report.