Cathedral City staff preview biennial budget, CIP and pavement plan; no formal actions taken

Cathedral City staff presented a study-session overview of the proposed FY 2025–26 and FY 2026–27 biennial budget on April 23, focusing on special revenue funds, proprietary funds, the parks improvement program and the five-year capital improvement program. The presentation included projected fund balances, planned capital projects and a multi-year pavement management approach; the session was for information only and no council action was taken.

The presentation, led by Kevin (staff member), detailed the city—s accounting structure and funding sources. "We have 59 funds that we account for," Kevin said, and he explained that 53 of those funds are budgeted operating funds while six are fiduciary funds—accounts the city tracks but does not treat as city liability, such as certain assessment districts.

The nut of the presentation was how restricted and discretionary funds would be used across operations and capital work. Staff walked the council through five special-revenue operating funds (including the public education and government/PEG channel fund), four proprietary/internal-service funds (equipment replacement, insurance, technology and facilities), the parks improvement program, and the capital improvement program (CIP). Staff provided beginning fund-balance figures on the slides to help interpret multi-year spending forecasts.

Key figures and planned items noted by staff included: an estimated $150,000–$175,000 for planned IT enhancements to be procured via RFP in year 1; a PEG/Channel 17 franchise-type fee equal to roughly 1 percent of cable franchise receipts that supports the city—s government access channel; a beginning Measure A fund balance shown at about $1.6 million; an AB 939 (integrated waste management) environmental fund balance near $3.3 million; a housing-successor beginning balance around $2.8 million; the facilities fund balance roughly $6 million; a technology fund balance of about $1.5 million; and an insurance fund balance approaching $9.9 million. Staff also showed equipment-replacement requests of about $1.0 million in year 1 and $0.5 million in year 2. Staff identified a debris-removal item tied to Tropical Storm Hillary of $2,728,000 that is progressing through federal environmental review.

On parks and recreation, staff described two categories of park capital work: ADA-compliance/risk-reduction projects and park upgrades/new features. The presentation showed roughly $280,000 planned per fiscal year for ADA-related park improvements (ramps, paths of travel and related items). Staff identified a design placeholder for a downtown dog park and noted a parks-impact-fee planning estimate in the range of $400,000 per year for design activities; some portions of park projects (including a placeholder splash-pad concept) were identified as potential candidates for AB 939 environmental fund or general-fund spending in year 2 depending on grants and other decisions.

Public works staff summarized a new pavement-management approach that uses a pavement-condition index (PCI) and a five-year plan to sequence treatments. Council discussion focused on how PCI-driven choices are made, how neighborhood and arterial projects are prioritized, and how regional coordination may affect future funding. Councilmembers and staff discussed the potential impact of regional transportation decisions: staff noted CVAG/CBAG and Riverside County Transportation Commission planning work and described a proposal under consideration that could shift some arterial paving responsibility to a regional program. Staff said they marked several arterial projects as technically "unfunded" in out years to reflect that those projects might be candidates for future regional funding or grant awards.

Grant funding and matching requirements were discussed at length. Staff reiterated that many grant programs are recurring but competitive, and that successful applications require a local match in some programs. The council was told that staff will pursue available grants, and that some projects in the CIP are contingent on awards.

A member of the public, Jeff Hawker of Hawker Productions, used the public-comment period to offer event-production services and to note prior and proposed cultural events; "I'm Jeff Hawker with Hawker Productions," he told the council. Staff also noted they had received a written public comment from David Koslow with questions about the CIP and parks program; the comment was filed for the record.

Councilmembers asked staff to supply clarifying materials during the remainder of the budget process. Staff agreed to include beginning fund-balance numbers on budget slides, provide the large-format paving map and a worksheet listing specific street names and project-year mapping, and to reconcile minor sequencing or listing errors in the published budget book prior to the May 14 proposed-budget presentation. The city manager and finance staff said the CIP and park-improvement plan are attachments to the biennial budget and that projects would be brought forward for formal appropriation in the regular budget adoption process.

The study session closed with no formal actions required; the council recessed until the evening meeting. Staff signaled additional, deeper dive sessions the following Wednesday on the general fund and low/moderate-income housing successor-account activities.