Holtville staff present early review of 2025–26 budget, flagging misposted items and sheriff contract increase

City staff presented an early review of the Holtville 2025–26 budget, saying the numbers are preliminary through April and that they expect a more detailed update after May postings are finalized.

City Manager and finance staff said Chandler has re‑examined ledger postings, corrected several mispostings (including telecommunications/fiber charges and payroll allocations), and identified both recurring and one‑time items that affect the year’s position. "She crawled into some of these numbers and really looked at some of the postings and some of the things that were misposted," the City Manager said.

Staff said the sheriff’s contract cost increased because a new contract took effect midyear; that change will be reflected in next year’s budget. Staff also described a revenue item that had not been reported in recent years because an annual report was missed; the city expects a modest arrear payment (described in the meeting as about $100) related to that line. Staff also flagged what they referred to as a potential one‑time receipt discussed in the meeting as "we're gonna get over $400,000," and cautioned the council that the size and timing of one‑time receipts should not be treated as recurring revenue.

The finance team said they will reclassify misposted items and present a more detailed budget review at a subsequent meeting after May data are closed. Staff recommended a conservative approach to projections given the current uncertainty on several revenue lines and noted that the reclassification work helps to make year‑to‑date comparisons more accurate.

No budget appropriations were adopted at the meeting; the presentation was informational only and intended to give council time to review and ask questions before formal budget hearings.