Finance director Michael Scheck honored as he delivers midyear budget update

The council presented a proclamation honoring Finance Director Michael Scheck on the eve of his retirement, and Scheck then delivered the city's midyear financial update covering revenues, expenditures and capital projects through Dec. 31.

Scheck told the council the general fund is projecting a small surplus driven largely by transfer-tax receipts: "Right now we're estimating the full year to come in at 4,200,000," he said, adding the number is "very volatile." He said transfer-tax projections reflect an 8% increase in the number of homes sold through the period but a 6% decline in average sale price, and that the assessed valuation-to-market-price ratio has edged lower.

On expenditures, Scheck identified insurance and workers' compensation claims as major upward drivers and noted $150,000 in projected personnel/fire overtime overages tied to mutual aid for recent wildfires. He also reiterated the community pool project remains budgeted at $34,900,000 with $10,300,000 still to spend and noted the facilities capital fund could fall to a low balance if contingency and timing don't align. Scheck singled out CalPERS pension liability as the largest longer-term fiscal risk: "My biggest concern would be the CalPERS liability," he said.

Council members thanked Scheck for the thorough presentation and pressed on next steps for the 10-year plan, CalPERS monitoring and potential shifts in project timing.