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Los Altos council adopts midyear financial update and updated pay schedule
Summary
The City of Los Altos voted unanimously to approve a midyear financial update that allocates most of an $8.9 million surplus to capital needs and to adopt an updated pay schedule to align reporting with CalPERS rules. Finance staff said revenues and expenditures are tracking as expected at midyear.
The Los Altos City Council unanimously approved a midyear financial update and an updated pay schedule at its meeting after a presentation from finance staff.
Director Kim told the council the city is “in a stable financial position at midyear,” reporting roughly $39.7 million in revenues collected (about 39% of the total budget) and $27.8 million in expenditures (48% of appropriations), a figure that includes a one-time $5 million CalPERS unfunded actuarial liability payment. Kim recommended using an $8.9 million FY25 general-fund surplus primarily for capital needs: $5.8 million to the capital improvement program (CIP), $2.5 million to facility maintenance, and about $600,000 remaining unassigned.
Councilmember Daley moved the resolution to adopt the midyear update; the measure carried on a roll-call vote with all members present voting yes. The council then approved an updated FY25/26 pay schedule intended to comply with California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) reporting requirements; that resolution passed unanimously as well.
Why it matters: the budget adjustments formalize a plan to preserve reserves while directing one-time surplus dollars toward infrastructure priorities, and the pay-schedule update ensures the city’s documents align with CalPERS statutory and regulatory expectations.
What council asked for: during questioning, council members asked staff for detail about specific fund balances, including a roughly $19.4 million park impact-fee balance that staff said was driven largely by proceeds from an El Camino project. Staff clarified that prior-fee proceeds generally remain subject to the findings or conditions under which they were collected, while new collections will be governed by the updated park-impact-fee structure.
Next steps: staff will implement the approved adjustments and return any technical follow-ups to council as needed. The budget- and pay-schedule resolutions are effective as adopted by the council.
