Budget committee reviews April year-to-date finances, staffing shortfalls and FY26 assumptions

The Budget & Finance Committee of the Rec Centers of Sun City West reviewed April year-to-date financial statements and discussed staffing, golf-round trends and assumptions for the proposed FY26 operating budget.

CFO Cliff Swan presented April results and year-to-date variances. Year to date the committee heard revenue unfavorable to budget by about $474,000, with a large portion attributable to golf (roughly $332,000 unfavorable) and a shortfall in events revenue. Golf rounds were reported to be about 4,000 rounds behind prior year and roughly 4,000 rounds behind budgeted expectations in the current year. Swan and other staff attributed some shortfalls to weather and to staffing gaps that limited event operations.

On the expense side, wages and benefits showed a favorable variance of about $676,000 year to date; Swan explained most of the favorable variance resulted from open positions (not from a decision to eliminate roles). He said that about 64% of that wage favorability relates to golf and landscape maintenance and another 20% to facilities maintenance. The committee was told that some work deferred because open positions still needed to be done by outside contractors; outside services running higher offset roughly $230,000 of the wage savings. Swan emphasized that budgeted staffing levels reflect assessed needs and that the association is actively recruiting to fill vacancies.

Committee members discussed operational risks tied to understaffing. An expert agronomy assessment (presented in the meeting) noted that the golf courses are staffed below typical public-course standards and recommended more labor to achieve higher conditioning; committee members asked staff to continue recruiting and to monitor course conditioning and outside-service costs.

Capital and investment results were discussed as well. The committee reported a favorable capital variance (capital expenditures under budget by roughly $373,000) and strong reserve fund valuation gains. Swan reported about $5.61 million in unrealized valuation gains on reserves year to date and said the association remains on track toward its fully funded balance (FFB) goals; he noted the final FFB will be calculated at year end as investments change daily.

The committee confirmed that the proposed FY26 operating budget will be forwarded to the governing board for a vote at the regular meeting later in the week. Committee members encouraged continued monitoring of APF (assessment processing fee) transaction trends and of real estate market activity because APF receipts can affect capital funding. The committee scheduled its next Budget & Finance meeting for June 3 to close out the fiscal year.

Why it matters: Year-to-date shortfalls in golf and events revenue, combined with reliance on outside services to cover work from unfilled positions, affect operating results and reserve contributions. The FY26 budget assumptions — including insurance premium projections, rounds estimates, staffing levels and APF receipts — will determine next year’s assessment request and capital funding schedule.

The committee adjourned after completing the financial review and forwarding the FY26 operating budget for governing board consideration.