Finance and Management Services
www.santa-ana.org/finance
Item # 7
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
October 7, 2025
TOPIC: Carryover of Unspent Amounts from FY2024-25 to FY2025-26
AGENDA TITLE
Appropriation Adjustments to Carryover Unspent Amounts from Fiscal Year 2024-25 to Fiscal Year 2025-26
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Approve an Appropriation Adjustment to reduce the FY2024-25 budget for unspent amounts carried forward to FY2025-26. (Requires five affirmative votes)
2. Approve an Appropriation Adjustment to increase the FY2025-26 budget for amounts carried forward from FY2024-25. (Requires five affirmative votes) GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: No
DISCUSSION
Cities often budget for one-time expenditures, such as capital improvement projects or major equipment purchases, that may not be completed by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. In these cases, the City Council may approve the “carryover” of unspent budget appropriations into the new fiscal year so funding remains available until the project is finished.
Carryovers are generally limited to one-time items. Routine operating expenses such as salaries, utilities, and supplies are budgeted each year and are not carried forward. If funding was approved for a specific project or program and work has not started by year- end, staff may request to carry that funding into the next fiscal year.
The City Charter requires Council approval for any budget adjustments. Carrying forward prior year appropriations into the current year qualifies as such an adjustment and must be formally approved by the City Council. For FY2025-26 (FY25-26), the total recommended carryover is $398.59 million, including $68.25 million from the General Fund and the remainder from restricted funds. Budget staff has reviewed each request to confirm that sufficient unspent budget authority is available to support the proposed carryovers.
Carryover of Unspent Amounts from FY2024-25 to FY2025-26 October 7, 2025
5 3
5 9
The following is a summary of all proposed carryovers from FY24-25 to FY25-26 The largest carryover projects continue to be Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects, which account for nearly 85% of all carryover funds. The most notable CIP projects include the following:
•Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Projects- $40.8 million
•Bristol Street Widening- $38.3 million
•Memorial Park & Aquatics Facility – $27.1 million
•Main Library Renovation– $23.9 million
•Warner Avenue Improvements- $20.4 million
•Centennial Park Improvements– $7.8 million
Together, CIP and grant projects represent the bulk of the City’s carryover activity, primarily due to their multi-year nature and reliance on external funding sources or construction timelines.
Staff has compiled a list of all carryover requests (Exhibit 1). These include items such as multi-year/capital grant projects, delayed purchases due to product availability issues, and various one-time projects approved for FY24-25 that were not completed by fiscal year-end on June 30, 2025. See Exhibit 1 for detailed information regarding each of the requested carryover projects. This file lists the accounting unit, description, amount, project status, and estimated completion date, if known.
Because the City’s legal level of budgetary compliance is at the fund and department level, the attached carryover lists include several negative amounts. These negative carryover amounts are paired with positive carryover amounts within the same fund and department. The offsetting negative and positive amounts are used to realign the budget among various accounting units within a single department and fund to reflect the remaining available resources, such as grants. Each amount on the list reflects the budget available one month after the close of FY24-25. Staff continued processing FY24-25 invoices through the end of August and are scheduled to complete reconciliations in October/November. The FY 24-25 ledger will not be finalized until the financial statements are audited in November/December. The actual carryover amounts will be limited to the available budget once FY24-25 is officially closed. Carryovers are summarized by fund in Exhibit 2.
Carryover of Unspent Amounts from FY2024-25 to FY2025-26 October 7, 2025
5 3
5 9
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact is associated with the recommended actions to carryover unspent appropriations. Spending for previously authorized expenditures will occur throughout the fiscal year, which only affects the timing of cash flow.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. List of Requests to Carryover Unspent Appropriations
2. List of Requests to Carryover Unspent Appropriations by Fund Submitted By: Alexander Trinidad, Executive Director, Finance and Management Services Agency
Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager