Finance commission receives treasurer's report, asks staff to remove disputed graphs before council

The South Pasadena Finance Commission voted Thursday to receive and file the treasurer's report and asked staff to remove an informational graph that commissioners said obscured the reason for a large, one-time revenue fluctuation.

Nick, who presented the report to the commission, described the charts as informational and said staff would revise them before publishing. "Those are informational; we're going to revise these," he told commissioners, noting the final documents would clarify cash transfers versus cash-outflows.

Commissioners asked about a roughly $2 million difference that showed up in the report for September; they and staff said that amount likely reflected a one-time insurance recovery or posting timing. Staff agreed to follow up with a written explanation and historical trend data via email.

A commissioner moved to receive and file the treasurer's report with the recommendation to remove the questioned graph prior to council presentation. The commission approved the motion on a voice vote.

Staff said the documents are intended to give commissioners a concise view of fund reserves, enterprise balances and special-revenue activity, and that more detailed notes will be provided going backward and forward to show trends. Commissioners asked staff to provide budget-to-actual detail in future reports and to include clearer, single-source explanations for spikes in revenue.

The commission will see a cleaned, final version when staff forwards the packet to the city council in early 2026.