BIENNIAL BUDGET OVERVIEW
The City of Riverside is pleased to present the adopted two-year
budget for the fiscal cycle that begins July 1, 2022 and
ends June 30, 2024. The City’s budget is not just a set
of numbers – it is a policy document that sets strategic
priorities developed in the context of a comprehensive
five-year financial plan. Through the budget and
five-year financial planning, the City of Riverside
strives to promote transparency, taxpayer
accountability, and fiscal strength.
We are proud to note that the City’s
budget documents are
consistently recognized by national organizations as reflecting the City’s commitment to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting, with the budget serving as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and an effective communications device.
FY 2022-2024 Mid-Cycle Budget Review
The City will conduct a mid-cycle budget review of the FY 2022-2024 Biennial Budget as required by the City Charter. Public engagement is encouraged at numerous meetings during which budget presentations and discussion will be conducted and feedback will be received. The final budget will be presented at two meetings, with a public hearing at the City Council meeting.
Date |
Time |
Meeting Body |
Subject Matter |
April 10 |
5:00 PM |
Board of Library Trustees |
Library Department FY 2023-2024 Budget |
April 17 |
6:30 PM |
Park & Recreation Commission |
Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department FY 2023-2024 Budget |
April 26 |
3:00 PM |
Museum of Riverside Board |
Museum Department FY 2023-2024 Budget |
May 11 |
9:00 AM |
Planning Commission |
Proposed CIP Conformance to General Plan |
TBD |
6:30 PM |
Board of Public Utilities |
Public Utilities FY 2023-2024 Budget |
May 11 |
5:00 PM |
Budget Engagement Commission |
FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget |
May 16 |
1:00 PM |
City Council – Afternoon Session |
FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget |
June 8 |
5:00 PM |
Budget Engagement Commission |
FY 2023-2024 Final Budget |
June 20 |
6:15 PM |
City Council – Evening Session |
Public Hearing and Adoption of the FY 2023-2024 Budget |
The City started the budget development process early, in October
and November preceding the start of the new fiscal cycle.
Initial analysis of budget numbers included meetings
with key subject matter experts.
In December, a dialogue started with the Budget Engagement
Commission and Financial Performance and Budget
Committee, followed by input from other City commissions
and boards in March and April. Through these public
meetings, input was solicited and questions were
answered. A proposed budget document was then presented
to the City Council. The budget must be approved by the
City Council by July 1.
The operating budget details the funding for the day-to-day
operations and obligations of the City for each specific
fiscal year, including costs for personnel, vendors and
contractors, utilities, building maintenance, and debt
payments. Every effort has been made to present the
budget document in a user-friendly format with
emphasis on trends and written explanations.
Capital
Improvement Program (CIP): The City of Riverside prepares a CIP document, which is
different from the Operating Budget document, but the
two are closely linked. The CIP is used as a planning
tool to align capital project requirements to the
financial sources that will support their realization
and the timeframe in which both financing and work will
take place. The first two years of the CIP are referred
to as the capital budget and consist of the planned
expenditures for the first two fiscal years in the CIP.
The Capital Budget is part of the Biennial Budget, which
appropriates funds for specific programs and projects.
A capital project typically involves the purchase or construction
of major fixed assets such as land, buildings and any
permanent improvement including additions, replacements
and major alterations having a long life expectancy.
Additionally, capital projects may apply to:
1.
expenditures which take place over two or more years and which
require continuing appropriations beyond a single fiscal
year;
2.
systematic acquisitions over an extended period of time or
3.
scheduled replacement or maintenance of specific elements of
physical assets.
Generally, only those items costing $20,000 or more are
considered as capital projects. For informational
purposes, capital projects are also referred to as
capital facilities, CIP projects and capital improvement
projects. The five-year CIP is reviewed annually to
enable the City Council to reassess projects in the
program.
The FY 2022/23 Master Fees and Charges Schedule
includes all fees and charges previously approved by
Council action or proposed for approval through May 17,
2022, and excludes fees no longer being charged.
LEARN MORE & BECOME INVOLVED
The City’s Operating Budget and Capital
Improvement Program documents, in partnership with the
City’s
Budget
Transparency Portal, advances our commitment to be more transparent
and accountable to the Riverside community. These
valuable tools aid the community’s understanding of the
infrastructure priorities, successes and challenges that
face our City in the upcoming fiscal cycle.
Throughout the fiscal year, the Budget Office prepares
and presents quarterly
Financial Reports to the Budget Engagement Commission and City
Council. These reports detail the year-to-date financial
performance of the City’s major funds (General Fund,
Measure Z, Electric, Water, Refuse, and Sewer) and
summarize the year-to-date financial activity of items
funded by Measure Z. At that time, the community learns
about areas of fiscal concern that may influence the
City’s financial health as well as budget adjustments or
supplemental appropriations that may be recommended and
approved. The community can learn about the budget, quarterly reports and other areas of
the City’s finances by attending meetings of the Budget Engagement Commission, Financial Performance and Budget Committee, and City Council either in person or online, or watching recordings of past meetings.
Navigation Guide: Budget Transparency Portal
PRIORITY BASED BUDGETING (PBB)
The City continued its implementation of
Priority Based Budgeting by updating program inventory, updating program costs, and
scoring programs’ alignment with the City’s
strategic plan.
The PBB methodology was utilized to identify potential
new revenue sources or reallocation of existing
resources toward funding critical needs. However, it
became apparent the implementation of the insights would
not be timely enough to produce resources for the FY
2022-2024 budget, therefore the formal proposal and
implementation of insights will be pursued separately of
the budget development process.