A resident-focused review of the Q1 General Fund Update presented November 18, 2025
El Cerrito residents deserve financial reporting that is timely, comparable, and designed for real oversight—especially in a city where taxes are already high, and the margin for error is shrinking. But the General Fund First Quarter Update presented on November 18, 2025, covers only the first quarter of the fiscal year, July 1 through September 30, 2025. That’s nearly seven weeks after the quarter ended—49 days late—meaning residents and Council are evaluating the City’s fiscal condition with information that is already outdated, while the City is well into the second quarter. When the City warns about reserves and long-term sustainability, a lag like that isn’t a minor inconvenience; it undermines meaningful oversight because the public is always looking in the rearview mirror.
The way the City frames the numbers makes the problem worse. The update repeatedly compares year-to-date revenues and spending to the full annual budget—for example, describing quarterly revenues and expenditures as a percentage of the year’s total budget. Staff also notes that revenues and expenditures are highly cyclical and timing can vary, but that is exactly why residents should be shown budget versus actual for the same period: year-to-date actuals compared to a year-to-date (phased) budget, with clear variances. That matching-principle approach is how you distinguish normal timing differences from real over-spending, under-performance, or emerging structural gaps. Without it, the public is left with percentages that sound precise but don’t tell you whether the City is tracking as expected for this point in the year or drifting off course.
This isn’t academic—it goes straight to reserves, which are the City’s safety net. The City’s minimum General Fund reserve policy is 17% of expenditures, and the City’s own table shows that the discretionary cushion above that minimum is only a few million dollars. In plain terms, the truly flexible cushion is not a massive pool of money; it is the portion most vulnerable to being chipped away through one-time appropriations from unassigned fund balance. Once that discretionary layer is reduced, the City has fewer options to absorb shocks without cutting services or turning to new taxes.
Which brings us to the second issue residents should connect directly to the quarterly update: Council spending approvals, and where the money comes from. In this agenda cycle, Council is asked to approve audio-visual upgrades for the Council Chambers funded by a one-time appropriation from unassigned balances, including a substantial amount from the General Fund unassigned balance. That is a direct draw on reserves—plain and simple. Other authorizations may be described as budgeted or offset by savings, but residents should not lump all spending items together; what matters is whether an action is truly funded within the operating budget or is paid for by draining the unassigned balance.
Since El Cerrito expects residents to accept premium taxation, residents should require premium governance in return: faster quarterly reporting while it still informs decisions; budget-versus-actual comparisons for the same period with clear variances; and plain-language explanations every time reserves are used. Trust doesn’t come from reassuring slides or percentages—it comes from timely information, apples-to-apples reporting, and honest reserve accounting.
What residents should ask for (and expect)
- Quarter updates are delivered quickly enough to influence decisions, not months after the fact.
- Budget vs. actual reporting for the same period (YTD actual vs. YTD budget) with clear variances.
- Clear identification of every action that uses reserves, including the exact fund source (e.g., unassigned General Fund balance).
- A simple reserve dashboard that distinguishes the policy minimum from the discretionary cushion.
Contact City leadership
City Manager: Karen Pinkos — kpinkos@elcerrito.gov
City Council:
• Carolyn Wysinger — cwysinger@elcerrito.gov
• Gabe Quinto — gquinto@elcerrito.gov
• Rebecca Saltzman — rsaltzman@elcerrito.gov
• Lisa Motoyama — lmotoyama@elcerrito.gov
• William Ktsanes — wktsanes@elcerrito.gov
City Clerk: cityclerk@elcerrito.gov | 510-215-4305
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 