The number-crunchers at Santa Clarita City Hall have some good news to report in the annual midyear budget picture: The city now expects to receive nearly $5 million more than it anticipated when the budget was approved.
The city’s finance managers regularly review the city’s budget projections, Brittany Houston, finance manager for the city, said in a phone interview Monday. City staff prepare an annual budget for the city’s review ahead of the start of its fiscal year in July.
The largest adjustment, according to Houston’s report on the agenda for the council’s Tuesday meeting, is “a $5.7 million interfund transfer from the Self Insurance Fund as a result of excess workers’ compensation reserves based on the most recent actuarial report.”
Houston said there was no major factor in the determination to move the reserves from the fund other than “it’s something that we’ve been monitoring for a while,” and that the city was confident it could move out the reserves.
There also was additional revenue being anticipated due to stronger-than-expected car sales, Houston said. The revenue is now expected to be up $2.6 million for sales tax and $200,000 for property tax due to higher growth than anticipated.
“We’re continuously analyzing the sales tax numbers that come in,” she said, adding it’s an area where there’s a lag in the data the city has available for planning, and the increase was not initially anticipated.
“These increases are partially offset by decreases totaling $1.8 million in development revenues, due to factors such as slower-than-anticipated permit submittals for new construction and tract homes, largely driven by elevated interest rates and the shift in revenue activities from plan review to permit issuance,” according to the city’s agenda report for Tuesday.
However, there was nearly $2 million in local revenue brought in from development, including $1.7 million in park dedication revenue collected as part of the Sand Canyon Plaza development and $320,286 in transfers for Hart Park operations.
Some of the additional offsets were identified through changes in services from the city and subsequent revenue adjustments: “Additional reductions include $80,000 in child development revenue following the implementation of universal pre-K classes for 4-year-olds and school district adoption of universal dismissal; a $55,000 decrease in contract classes due to minimal enrollment resulting in cancellation of classes; as well as a $50,000 decrease in animal license revenue resulting from changes to the licensing timeline.”
City Manager Ken Striplin annually touts the city’s conservative budget figures, and the department was recognized during last month’s meeting for its acumen.
“For the 31st consecutive year, the city of Santa Clarita has received the Investment Policy Certificate of Excellence Award from the Association of Public Treasurers of the United State,” according to a city statement last month. “The city earned this recognition for its Fiscal Year 2025-26 investment policy, which demonstrates success in developing a comprehensive written investment policy.”
