San Clemente City Council
November 1, 2022

Fiscal Policy
Fiscal Policy Statement Status Comments
Revenue Policies
The City will try to maintain a diversified and stable revenue system to shelter it from short-term fluctuations in any one revenue source.
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The City will estimate its annual revenues by an objective, analytical process utilizing trend, judgmental, and statistical analysis as appropriate.
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All City Council-established General Fund User fees will be reviewed and adjusted annually as part of the budget process by each City department and the analysis with recommended changes will be provided to the City Council. The basis for adjustment will be the cost of providing services, inflationary impacts, or other budgetary factors as appropriate. User fees will be established to recover the full cost of services provided, except when the City Council determines that a subsidy from the General Fund is in the public interest.
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One-time operating, capital, and reserve revenues will be used for one-time expenditures. Exceptions must be formally adopted by Council action and may only offset operating expenditures for a limited time period of less than five fiscal years.
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The City will annually identify developer fees and permit charges received from “non-recurring” services performed in the processing of new development and use those funds to meet peak workload requirements.
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General Fund revenue categories (sales tax revenue by example) may not be committed directly to fund a specific expenditure line item or program.
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Expenditure Policies
The purchase of new or replacement capital equipment with a value of $5,000 or more and with a minimum useful life of two years will require budget approval.
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The City will annually project its equipment replacement and maintenance needs for the next five years and will update this projection each year. A maintenance and replacement schedule will be developed and followed.
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