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Council adopts midyear budget amendments and closes successor-agency accounting gap
Summary
The council approved midyear adjustments that include a $1,142,000 recommended general fund change and actions to resolve a remaining successor-agency deficit; staff described a remaining shortfall and proposed a general-fund transfer to close the successor-agency account.
The El Cerrito City Council voted to adopt midyear budget amendments that include $1,142,000 in general fund adjustments and $1,590,000 of recommended changes across all funds. The presentation also addressed the final accounting for the dissolved successor agency and a remaining deficit staff recommended closing with a transfer from the general fund.
City staff summary: Budget and Financial Services Manager Claire Coleman told the council the general fund adjustments total $1,142,000 and additional amendments across special revenue and enterprise funds bring the total to $1,590,000. She listed specific requests including $29,500 for a fiscal impact report related to the library initiative, $30,000 for executive recruitment services, and $30,000 for emergency tree maintenance.
Successor agency and prior denials: Finance Director Crystal Rames described a complex history stemming from the 2012 dissolution of redevelopment agencies and denied charges that remained unresolved. She said the city had written off $1,320,000 in negative cash in 2021 but that additional denied charges left a remaining shortfall of about $1,040,000. Rames summarized the forensic accounting work and said the final debt payments and ROPS process left an unavoidable remaining deficit.
Reserves and impact: With the proposed adjustments, staff projected total reserves of $21,450,000 at year-end and unassigned reserves of 19% (about $1.2 million above the city’s 17% threshold). Staff warned that future deficit budgets could reduce the reserve percentage and stressed the importance of expense controls and collaboration with the Financial Advisory Board.
Council action: Council member Weisinger moved and Council member Motyama seconded adoption of the midyear budget amendments; the motion passed by roll-call vote with all members voting yes.
What residents asked: Public commenters and members of the Financial Advisory Board pressed staff for clearer explanations of how the successor agency balances were calculated, asked about the ROPS process, and questioned whether some projected uses of tax receipts could be reallocated. Staff responded with detail on how earlier denied charges and ROPS A/B distributions affected cash balances.
What this means: The council moved to reconcile the successor agency and to accept the recommended midyear changes, which include targeted appropriations and transfers. Staff will implement the approved transfers and continue work on any prior-period adjustments required by state reconciliation processes.
Next steps: Staff will execute the recommended transfers and will return to council if additional prior-period adjustments arise from continuing reconciliation work; the Financial Advisory Board will continue to collaborate with council on expense-control options.
