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Sonoma posts FY 2024–25 surplus, launches nightly OpenGov transparency portal; cemetery fund flagged for follow-up
Summary
Finance Director Ariel reported an unaudited all‑funds surplus of $3.7 million and a general‑fund surplus of about $600,000 for FY 2024–25, demonstrated a new OpenGov transparency portal that updates nightly, and council directed staff to return with a plan to address a long‑running cemetery enterprise deficit.
Sonoma’s finance director told the City Council on Sept. 29 that preliminary, unaudited figures for fiscal year 2024–25 show stronger revenues than expected and improved reserves, while staff warned a persistent deficit in the city’s cemetery enterprise fund remains a management priority.
“The total revenue for all funds for fiscal year 24–25 was $47,100,000 and total expenditures were $43,400,000, leaving a surplus of $3,700,000,” Finance Director Ariel said during the presentation. Ariel also said the general fund showed a roughly $600,000 surplus after carryforwards were approved into the FY 2025–26 budget.
Why it matters: the council had adopted a budget that initially projected a gap; the better-than-forecast performance was driven by higher hotel‑occupancy tax (TOT) and property‑tax receipts, higher-than-expected EMS ambulance rebilling revenue, and unspent professional‑services appropriations that staff carried forward. Ariel demonstrated a new OpenGov fiscal‑transparency portal that staff said updates nightly so residents can view budget and transaction detail online.
Council members pressed staff for detail. Ariel and the city manager said the portal links to the adopted budget book for narrative context and that the online reports include amended budgets, monthly transaction detail and filters by fund and department. “This updates every night,” Ariel said when asked how current the portal data would be.
Cemetery enterprise fund: several council members expressed concern about the cemetery fund’s deficit and asked for regular updates. One councilmember said the cemetery fund has historically carried a multimillion‑dollar shortfall; finance staff explained the fund shows an interfund due to the general fund that affects the reported balance and said reversing journal entries will change how the deficit is displayed. The city manager said staff will pursue three parallel actions: building cemetery operational capacity, updating fees and activating volunteer programs to increase revenue or reduce operating costs.
What’s next: council accepted the presentation (no formal vote required) and directed staff to return with detailed follow‑up on the cemetery strategy and regular status updates as audits are finalized. The city’s OpenGov portal and the online budget book are available from the city website under Finance & Utilities, with an OpenGov link to drill into reports and transactions.
Sources: Presentation and Q&A with Finance Director Ariel (budget slides and OpenGov demonstration).
