Oxnard City finance staff told the City Council that recent technology upgrades and tighter controls have improved the city’s fiscal position and prompted credit-rating upgrades from Standard & Poor’s. During a finance presentation, staff also said they reached their general fund reserve target ahead of schedule and outlined next steps to modernize permitting and utility billing systems.

The presentation, given to the mayor, mayor pro tem and council members, described the finance department’s structure and its two main published reports: the annual budget and the annual comprehensive financial report. The presenter said those documents, together with new budget software, are central to the department’s work to display the city’s financial condition.

"The finance department ensures the fiscal responsibility and transparency for the city," the presenter said, describing four divisions—billing and license, purchasing, general accounting and budget—and an internal control unit designed to oversee compliance.

Staff described the billing and license division as the customer-facing unit that provides centralized cash management, utility and enterprise fund billing and business licensing for "over 11,000" businesses operating in the city. The purchasing team was described as an internal customer service unit that helps departments procure goods and services in compliance with the city procurement ordinance.

The presenter credited the implementation of the city’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with automating controls: "the city ERP... has definitely helped to automate some of those controls," including automatic budget-control checks and workflow routing that enforces segregation of duties, the presenter said.

Staff said those systems and new budget tools have contributed to incremental improvements in the city’s finances and cited an external rating action. "Standard and Poor's with the credit rating upgrades," the presenter said, and added that "we were able to reach the target reserve policy ahead of schedule." City staff did not provide specific rating symbols or the effective dates during the presentation.

While staff described technical improvements, they also warned of internal capacity constraints. The presenter said the department is experiencing high turnover in some positions—a "revolving door"—which limits the return on investment in staff training and complicates succession planning.

Looking ahead, the presenter outlined additional ERP phases that will affect the billing and license division, starting with permitting and licensing modules and later including an upgraded utility-billing system. The presenter described the current utility-billing tool as outdated and in need of replacement.

Staff also raised early plans to explore how the department might use artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and transparency, with an explicit caveat that any deployment must comply with existing rules and controls.

The presentation did not include formal motions or votes. Council members were addressed but did not make formal decisions during the segment covered by the transcript. Staff said the ERP rollout, reserve improvement and staffing plans will continue to be worked on and reported back to the council in future meetings.