The City Finance Department prepares a biennial budget for Council adoption every two years. The budget, simply put, is a policy document. The document reflects and supports City Council policies and is the primary tool to accomplish their goals. The biennial budget is developed with a primary focus to achieve City Council’s goals established in the January 2017 Goal Setting Workshop. Departments share their accomplishments and develop objectives focused on achieving these overarching Council goals in six primary areas:
• Economic and Community Development
• Public Safety
• Community Engagement and Community Relations
• Infrastructure
• Governance
• Financial Strength
As projected revenues are finite, the policy decisions are how to best utilize those resources to meet the needs of the community. The budget must be built from attainable revenue projections, while at the same time identifying fair and accurate expenditures. In developing a budget, the primary component is to determine the costs associated with operating our City. Since we are a service organization (and we don’t make widgets), the primary expense is the City’s labor force serving the residents and businesses of Cathedral City. In addition, there are operating components (such as materials, supplies) necessary to better serve the Cathedral City community. In addition to the City Council, the City has five primary operating departments: City Management, Administrative Services, Community Development, Police and Fire.
In January 2017, the six-month budget preparation cycle began for the FY 2017/2018 and FY 2018/2019 Biennial Budget by developing estimates for various revenue and expense elements. In February, the department narratives, consisting of department goals, objectives in meeting Council goals, and department accomplishments were reviewed and updated. In addition, a draft 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Plan was prepared. In refining the CIP, existing and new projects were identified, along with their scope, funding/expense needs, and associated timelines. In March, City Management and City Council reviewed the budgeted revenues and expenditures. During the month of April, there will be two Study Session Discussions to review the budget workbooks along with any questions from the City Council. The April 12th session will be dedicated to the General Fund (primary financial backbone in operating the City) and the April 26th session will be devoted to the ancillary financial elements of the budget known as the Special Revenue Funds, Internal Service Funds, and 5-Year CIP Plan. The proposed budget will be presented to City Council on May 10th for review and the final budget will be presented to the City Council on May 24th for adoption, ensuring we meet the requirement to have an approved budget prior to the start of the City’s fiscal year on July 1st.
Principals of budgeting and financial statements of the City are governed by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and Industry requirements set forth by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The City of Cathedral City participates in GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award program for the City’s Biennial Budget. The City has received this prestigious award for five (5) consecutive budget cycles covering the past nine (9) years. The FY 2017/2018 and FY 2018/2019 Biennial Budget will be the City’s 6th submission to GFOA for this award.
We would like to invite the many residents and business owners to participate in the Study Sessions in April. We would also like to thank the City Council and City Manager for their leadership and overall direction in the budget process. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the City staff participating in developing our biennial budget.
Preparing the budget is a demanding and time consuming effort for all involved in the process. This is especially true considering the competing priorities and continued workloads of staff and the budgetary challenges facing the City. “Teamwork” among City Council, staff and our citizens and business community is the backbone to creating this policy document. This same “teamwork” continues to be an essential ingredient in Moving Cathedral City Forward.
