Sonoma ends fiscal 2024–25 with an unaudited $600,000 general-fund surplus; city launches nightly OpenGov transparency portal

Sonoma City officials reported a stronger-than-expected close to fiscal year 2024–25 on Sept. 29, with an unaudited $600,000 surplus in the city’s general fund and a citywide surplus of $3.7 million, Finance Director Ariel told the City Council.

Ariel said the combined total for all funds was "the total surplus for all the funds is $3,700,000," and reported that general-fund revenues exceeded projections while overall spending came in under budget. The city’s unaudited reserve balance at year-end was reported as $16.5 million, which Ariel broke down as operating, emergency and undesignated reserves.

The surplus came amid revenue gains in several categories: transient-occupancy tax (TOT) receipts exceeded expectations, property-tax receipts were stronger than forecast, and ambulance billing produced higher-than-forecast collections. At the same time, sales-tax receipts lagged budgeted targets, a pattern staff attributed to consumer caution.

Ariel also walked council and the public through a new financial-transparency tool on the city website, hosted on OpenGov. "This updates every night," Ariel said of the portal, which maps adopted budgets to transaction-level actuals and lets users filter by fund, department and account.

Why it matters: The unaudited surplus and the new portal both affect near-term policy choices and public oversight. Council members praised the transparency tool as a way to track revenue and spending in close to real time, while staff and council flagged budget risks that remain.

Key fund details and risks - General fund: Amended budget vs. unaudited actuals produced a $600,000 surplus for FY 2024–25. The council-approved FY 2025–26 forecast…