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Board staff: fund healthy, months in reserve about 16.2; projected revenue up to $4.4M this fiscal year
Summary
Department of Consumer Affairs budget staff reported that the California Acupuncture Board’s fund condition shows approximately 16.2 months in reserve and projected revenues of about $4.4 million for 2024–25, while cautioning salary and pension increases and state budget reductions could raise future expenditures.
Rachel Lanzoni, a budget analyst with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) budget office, presented the California Acupuncture Board’s fund condition statement and expenditure and revenue projections at the board’s March 7 meeting.
Lanzoni told the board the report uses actual data through fiscal month 6 and that the board began the 2023–24 year with a beginning balance just over $4.4 million. For 2023–24, the board collected roughly $4.1 million in revenues and ended with an estimated reserve balance of about $4.6 million — roughly 16.4 months in reserve, the presentation said. For the current year (2024–25), the board is projecting roughly $4.4 million in revenue and projected expenditures near $3.3 million, leaving an estimated year-end fund balance of about $5.7 million or 16.2 months in reserve.
Lanzoni highlighted revenues sources in the prior year: approximately $64,000 from delinquent fees; roughly $3.2 million from license renewals; about $971,000 from other regulatory fees, licenses and permits; and roughly $165,000 from interest and unclaimed checks in the current-year projection. She also noted the board’s 2023–24 expenditures included direct draws to the fund for statewide pro rata and pension payments.
The analyst warned that future years’ expenditures could rise because of personal service adjustments, including general salary increases and retirement-rate adjustments. The budget office includes a conservative ongoing 3% escalation factor in projections to account for these costs. Lanzoni also summarized two Department of Finance budget letters that could affect the board: one directing vacancy savings and position eliminations and another directing government-efficiency reductions; both could increase cost pressures if adopted in the May revise.
Board members asked how the board’s reserve compares with common benchmarks. Lanzoni said the government’s technical ceiling is under 24 months in reserve and that a healthy months-in-reserve range is generally between six and nine months; she characterized the board’s current reserve as “very healthy.”
A member of the public, Neil Miller of CalAtma, used the public-comment period to ask whether the board’s fund is being commingled with the general fund and requested assurance that the board’s special fund is not being borrowed. Board staff said the Department of Consumer Affairs will continue to monitor the fund condition and keep the board apprised of any changes.
