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City staff releases draft interactive budget and CIP; council flags cost‑allocation and reserve issues
Summary
Staff presented the draft fiscal 2025–27 budget and a separate interactive capital improvement plan. Councilors asked for clarifications on cost allocation, enterprise reimbursements (ROW), deferred projects, and requested code alignment on appropriation controls.
City staff presented an online, interactive draft of the fiscal 2025–27 budget and a separate capital improvement plan (CIP) at the June 3 meeting, and walked council through where to find detailed line items and the new cost allocation plan used to apportion administrative charges.
Finance and management staff said the online digital books include interactive fund summaries, and that the full cost allocation plan is a detailed, consultant‑generated report (about 300+ pages) that allocates administrative costs to enterprise and general fund divisions. Financial Services Manager Bob Cross explained the methodology: allocations use department‑specific measures (for example, number of purchase orders, staff reports) and the consultant runs the model iteratively to distribute costs.
Councilors asked several clarification questions. Topics included where deferred capital projects appear in the materials (they are in a separate PDF appendix), the status of fleet vehicle purchases (utility vehicle items were not yet merged into the CIP; the largest vehicle item noted was an electric vehicle budgeted at about $400,000 in 2027), and how enterprise reimbursements flow into the general fund. Staff showed where the enterprise reimbursement lines appear in the online fund summaries and ledger detail.
Council members asked staff to document that enterprise reimbursement rates be treated as frozen at current levels until a new rate study is completed, and asked staff and the city attorney to align budget policy language (including municipal code section 3.24.60) with the budget book to avoid surprises when expenditures approach appropriations. The city attorney said he was reviewing code and would provide language.
Staff noted the draft budget materials are posted online and that there are printed summary copies available for the public. Council did not adopt the budget at the June 3 meeting; staff said final documents and any requested edits would return to the council during the budget adoption process.
