Rolling Hills Estates council receives FY25–26 revenue projections as staff flags rising benefit, insurance and IT costs

Rolling Hills Estates City Council received and filed the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 general fund revenue projections and discussed expenditure pressures, including increasing benefits and insurance costs, higher IT and consultant fees, and planning staffing assumptions, city staff said at the council's budget workshop.

City staff told the council the revenue outlook had been adjusted since a preliminary presentation last month: property tax growth assumptions were reduced from 5% to 4% after reviewing recent years, and staff aligned next year’s interest-on-investments estimate with current returns (roughly $160,000, excluding pension-trust holdings). On the expenditure side, staff reported a net proposed decrease of about $22,008 from the baseline budget, but emphasized limited flexibility: with updated revenues and the proposed expenditures, the general fund shows a small surplus of roughly $35,000 before any further adjustments.

The revenue adjustments matter because recent years’ property-tax increases have been uneven, staff said. Finance staff noted 8% growth in 2022 and about 4% growth in subsequent years,…