Carson outlines balanced FY 2025–26 budget with modest surplus, adds multimedia staff and flags sheriff contract pressures

Carson city officials on April 15 presented a structurally balanced proposed budget for fiscal year 2025–26 that projects $155 million in revenues and $154.7 million in expenditures, leaving a proposed surplus of $345,971.

The city manager and finance staff said the general fund balance was $219.7 million as of the audited June 30, 2024 figures, and that revenues are forecast to grow roughly 11% year over year while expenditures rise about 7%.

Director of Finance William Jefferson and revenue manager Antonio Velasco attributed the revenue increase to several sources, including sales and property tax growth, oil business tax audit recoveries and litigation receipts tied to Phillips 66, and higher utility-user tax receipts. Velasco said the city’s oil-tax audits and related collections are continuing and noted that litigation receipts and audit adjustments contributed materially to the revenue picture.

Budget analyst Ashton Watts presented the expenditure side and described targeted increases in public works and the information services, project management (ISPM) department to support infrastructure and event preparations for the upcoming World Cup and Olympics. He said proposed total citywide staffing would be 388 full-time-equivalent positions (up from 386) and that proposed salaries and benefits for FY25–26 total approximately $62.7 million.

Jefferson said the proposal includes two new positions to stand up a multimedia division in ISPM; the department’s increased funding to create that division was budget-neutral by reallocating under-spent funds within the department.

On public safety costs, officials told the council they are modeling a 5% increase for the sheriff contract for next fiscal year and cautioned the actual increase could be higher. Jefferson said the contract totaled about $24 million in the current year and that a 5% rise would represent roughly a $2–3 million increase; the city manager noted the contract has seen year-to-year variance between about 3% and 7% in recent years. City staff also said the city’s ability to secure additional deputies is constrained by countywide recruitment and vacancy issues; council members noted Carson currently has budgeted but unfilled deputy positions.

Council members asked for follow-up information on several items: timing for a Marriott hotel development noted as pending financing and entitlement work; status of an RFP for a franchise pipeline consultant that the city said had just been issued; and more detail on capital improvement program (CIP) items, which will be the focus of the second budget workshop on May 6.

Public comment during the meeting flagged operational effects on part-time city workers and event staffing. An AFSCME Local 809 representative said some part-time employees had not yet received a state-mandated minimum-wage increase and warned that 1,500-hour caps and other limits are creating staffing gaps for upcoming events.

City officials scheduled a further workshop on May 6 to review the CIP and other program budgets and plan to return on June 17 with personnel reclassifications and any remaining budget adjustments for council approval.

(Reporting note: staff presented mid-year actuals pulled as of March 31; Jefferson and Velasco provided forecasting commentary.)