City Council Approves $382.2M Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25

On Monday, the City Council approved the City of Culver City's annual budget for $382.2 million for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, which begins July 1st. The City's budget anticipates $330.9 million in revenue.

The City's General Fund revenues are expected to increase in this upcoming fiscal year, to an estimated amount of $170.2 million, driven primarily by increased business license tax receipts. Ongoing General Fund expenditures total $175.9 million exceeding projected revenue by $5.7 million. The use of unassigned reserve fund balance makes up the difference. One-time budget enhancements and capital improvement projects totaling $12.3 million bring the General Fund Budget to $188.2 million. The City's 10-year financial forecast shows that to maintain current programs and services, the City will need to continue to rely on its healthy reserves.

The City's efforts in addressing homelessness in the last two years, while resulting in immense progress, has required more funding in the budget. The City is expected to spend approximately $15 million from the General Fund on homeless initiatives that include Project Homekey, Wellness Village (Safe Sleep), Mobile Crisis Team, and Motel Master Leasing. While the City has continued to seek additional financial support to offset the cost of these services, funding from the State of California and Los Angeles County has remained extremely limited.

City employee salary schedules were also approved. Police and Fire Departments employees will receive 3.25% and 1.625% increases, respectively, based on Culver City's voter approved Salary Initiative Ordinance. The budget also includes a 5% increase for other City employees. City Council also agreed to Culver City Unified School District's request to provide full funding for crossing guards at 17 intersections, while also adding another intersection at Overland and Virginia. That total cost will be $514,664.

Accounting for all adopted revenues and expenditures, the estimated ending General Fund balance is $118.6 million which is approximately $1.0 million more than what was projected in the first version of the proposed budget. Staff identified 22 Capital Improvement Projects that were successfully completed under-budget in prior fiscal years resulting in a total of $1.86 million in unspent funds that can be released back to the General Fund reserve.

A copy of the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is available on the City's website. As part of the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget development process, the City has launched a new online Capital Improvement Projects Portal to provide additional information on each of the new capital improvement projects for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. The community is encouraged to visit our new online portal and learn more about the City's proposed projects.