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City staff says Riverside’s reserves remain strong but flags slowing revenue and staffing costs

Riverside City Council · February 24, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Deputy Finance Director Sergio Aguilar reported first-quarter fiscal results showing roughly $230 million in combined general fund reserves, softening sales and development revenues, higher police overtime and growing personnel costs; staff recommended restraint and several supplemental appropriations, and a motion to approve was delayed when the council paused for closed session.

City finance staff told the Riverside City Council on Feb. 24 that the city remains in a generally strong fiscal position but faces emerging fiscal uncertainties that warrant restraint on unallocated spending.

Deputy Finance Director Sergio Aguilar said the general fund held about $76 million in policy reserves and about $154 million in other reserves — roughly $230 million in total — and that these reserves comply with the city's 20% policy. He reported mixed revenue signals: sales tax rose about 1.1% year-over-year in the first quarter but at a slower pace than the prior year, building-permit revenue was down about 12%, and development-fee receipts trailed the…

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