Chino council hears midyear budget review as staff recommends $7 million transfer from internal funds

The Chino City Council on April 1 received a midyear budget review from Finance Director Kim Sowell showing a decline in several revenue categories and recommending adjustments to balance the fiscal year.

Sowell told the council that staff had identified about $16 million in downward adjustments to revenue estimates, driven largely by delays in several large multiunit development projects; she said those delays reduced user fee and development impact fee receipts. “Because of these delays in the developments, it also impacted the development impact fee funds,” Sowell said.

The presentation laid out specific changes staff recommended to address the shortfall: an additional appropriation request of $811,000 in the General Fund for items including increased obligations to the Chino Valley Fire District, contract adjustments for the Inland Valley Humane Society, election costs and special-project staffing; $250,000 in added sewer fund costs to cover wastewater treatment fees; and a planned transfer in of $7,000,000 from internal service funds ($2,500,000 from the employee services fund and $4,500,000 from the equipment management fund) to cover current-year operating needs.

Why it matters: the midyear review alters the city’s projection for June 30, 2025 and affects near-term choices about capital projects and one-time expenditures. Sowell said that after the recommended adjustments, staff projected the year would end with a $675,000 surplus and an audited beginning fund balance adjustment that results in a projected ending fund balance of about $30.8 million. She warned, however, that additional one-time appropriations could change the projection before the fiscal year ends.

Council members and the city manager emphasized the practical consequences. Mayor Eunice Ulloa and Mayor Pro Tem Burton thanked staff for the work; Burton and others urged earlier and clearer revenue forecasting to inform council decisions. Council members raised the broader policy point that one-time development fees are not reliable long-term revenue sources and may force delays or re-prioritization of capital projects if expected developments do not materialize.

Staff recommended formal adoption of a midyear resolution to authorize the adjustments (referred to in the presentation as Resolution No. 2025-012). The transcript records the presentation and council discussion but does not include the record of a final vote on that specific resolution in the public session excerpt provided.