Nick, a member of the city's finance team, told the Finance Commission on Nov. 20 that South Pasadena's fiscal outlook for 2026 is broadly stable, with moderate growth driven chiefly by property-tax revenue. Nick said property tax accounts for roughly 40% of the general fund and is lags-based and therefore easier to forecast; staff recommended conservative planning assumptions, including about 2% sales-tax growth for the coming year.

The presentation drew on federal and state data sources and local consultants for sales- and property-tax forecasting. Nick said staff use long-standing sources such as the Congressional Budget Office and Bureau of Economic Analysis for macro assumptions and local consultants to model the timing and impact of development projects on sales and property tax.

Commissioners pressed staff on a visible $2 million variance in a recent treasurer's report; staff explained the spike was likely a one-time insurance recovery or due to the timing of posting property-tax and other transactions and said they will provide clarified figures in the January update. Public commenters and some commissioners urged caution about relying on sales tax, noting South Pasadena historically depends far more on property tax than retail-reliant jurisdictions.

Staff said the city will conduct a fee-and-charges study in the spring, update budget-to-actual reporting cadence (moving to more frequent monthly reporting after midyear), and continue quarterly forecasting checks with consultants. The commission set a target to provide written comments on draft policies and manuals before the January meeting so staff can return an updated document to the commission and then to council.