El Centro council adopts $162.46 million fiscal 2025–26 budget after presentation and debate

The El Centro City Council voted to adopt a $162,458,817 spending plan for fiscal year 2025–26 after a presentation by Andy Heath, a financial consultant to the city, and more than an hour of council questions and comments.

Heath told the council the proposed budget – which the presentation groups as citywide appropriations across 90 funds – reflects carryovers from current projects, planned capital work, and a conservative forecast of revenues and costs. “What I’ll be doing tonight is actually giving you a presentation on the upcoming year, fiscal year, which begins July 1,” Heath said during his presentation.

The council’s approval follows detailed line-item and fund-level forecasts brought forward in recent months, Heath said, and includes a $2 million ongoing placeholder intended to address results from a citywide compensation study. That placeholder is part of the general fund proposal of about $49.6 million. Capital appropriations in the plan total just under $52 million, with notable projects and carryovers that include police station funding, ADA improvements and parks projects.

Why it matters: the budget sets spending authority for the coming fiscal year and establishes citywide staffing and capital priorities. Heath said the plan balances the use of one-time…