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Council directs staff to remove FY26 $250,000 transfer from Rolling Oaks cemetery revenue
Summary
After council discussion about cemetery operations and perpetual-care funding, staff and council agreed to remove a proposed $250,000 transfer from Rolling Oaks cemetery receipts to the general fund for FY26 and to revisit cemetery finances next year.
Council discussion on Monday led staff to remove a proposed $250,000 transfer from Rolling Oaks cemetery revenue into the general fund for fiscal year 2026 and to bring cemetery financials back for further review next year.
Staff member Kim reviewed updated Rolling Oaks numbers and said the projections shown in the packet reflected recent fee changes and revised memorial/installation assumptions. Kim noted that the cemetery’s perpetual-care fund currently holds about $1.8 million and that city practice transfers 15% of gross memorial/plot sales into perpetual care.
Councilmember Jim asked whether the $250,000 transfer was already reflected in the general-fund budget; staff confirmed it was included in current materials but said council could direct removal for this year. Councilmember Ramesh and others supported leaving the transfer in for historical comparability, while Councilmember Kevin and others recommended removing it for FY26 to limit the cemetery fund’s decline while sales remain low. After discussion, staff recorded council direction to remove the $250,000 transfer from both the Rolling Oaks projections and the general fund for FY26, and to revisit the transfer next year when memorial sales and installation-fee revenue can be reevaluated.
Kim clarified accounting mechanics: the cemetery-to-general-fund transfer is not a loan or formal note but a budgetary transfer. She also reminded council that the perpetual-care fund is intended to be a long-term trust-like reserve that supplements operations via interest earnings and will not fully cover perpetual operating costs when all plots are sold.
Councilmembers asked that staff run longer-term projections — including sensitivity to sales prices and the perpetual-care contribution rate — before any permanent policy change. Staff said they will prepare an updated Rolling Oaks financial summary and present options at a future workshop.
