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Professional Fiduciaries Bureau projects healthy reserves but notes staffing vacancies and temporary processing delays
Summary
DCA budget staff reported the bureau projects roughly $1.4 million in year-end reserves (about 15.5 months) and advised 12 months is a healthy reserve target; committee members pressed for vacancy and complaint‑trend updates after staff turnover temporarily lengthened application processing times.
Brendan Vu, a budget analyst in the Department of Consumer Affairs' budget office, presented the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau's fund-condition statement to the advisory committee on March 11, 2026 and summarized revenue, expenditure and reserve projections.
Vu said the bureau began the prior year with a base budget slightly over $1 million and projected FY expenditures of roughly $718,000, creating an approximate reversion of $333,000 (31.73%). For fiscal year 2024–25 the bureau collected about $1.298 million in receipts and ended the year with an $885,000 reserve (about 13.2 months). For 2025–26 the bureau projects just over $1.3 million in revenue and projects a fund balance of roughly $1.4 million (about 15.5 months in reserve). The budget office noted it is using a conservative 3% ongoing expenditure increase assumption to account for salary and retirement adjustments and warned that future unanticipated events or legislation could create cost pressure.
Committee members asked whether 12 months in reserve is an appropriate target; Vu said approximately 12 months is considered healthy. Members also asked how many staff are funded in the bureau's budget. Vu said the current roster includes one analyst and one program manager, with two vacant positions (including an enforcement vacancy).
Program manager Sarah Fletcher presented operational statistics for the two quarters ending Dec. 31, 2025: since the bureau's inception 1,589 licenses have been issued; as of Dec. 31 there were 913 active licenses, 13 inactive, and 34 retired. The bureau received 85 initial applications and issued 58 new licenses in the period; the processing time to approve completed applications to sit for the exam was 64 days, and it took an average of 11 days to issue a license after passing the exam. The bureau processed 221 renewals in quarter 2 (431 total for the fiscal year) with an average renewal processing time of 34 days.
On enforcement, Fletcher said the bureau received 92 complaints since the start of the fiscal year, closed 120 cases to date with an average of 220 days to close, had 144 complaints pending, issued 17 citations, and referred seven cases to the attorney general's office for possible disciplinary action.
Legal counsel Sabina Knight attributed recent longer processing times to staffing transitions and temporary resource issues; she told the committee that recent backlogs have been eliminated and that the longer processing times in the statistics reflect short-term staff changes rather than permanent process changes. Sarah Fletcher clarified the inactive license status is temporary, carries a reduced fee, suspends the ability to practice while inactive, does not require continuing education during inactivity, and can be held up to ten years before reactivation requirements apply.
A committee member requested that the next meeting include an update on vacancies and a year-in-review of complaint trends to detect any emerging patterns. The committee set its next meeting for Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.
