At its meeting on June 13, the Carlsbad City Council adopted a balanced budget for fiscal year 2023-2024, which spans from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.
The city’s FY 23-24 budget invests in the City Council’s highest priorities, sets money aside for future infrastructure needs and grows the city’s cash reserves, while reducing ongoing spending in various areas to shore up the city’s long term financial health.
The budget reflects a call for all departments to increase efficiency and find new ways to reduce ongoing spending. In addition to reducing city staffing by the equivalent of 12 positions, the budget identifies various base spending reductions totaling $2.3 million at a time when inflation is 6%.
The budget maintains the city’s high level of service, which includes several programs added in recent years to address City Council priorities. These include a beach lifeguard program, a program to reduce homelessness, an additional fire station and two additional ambulances, a police ranger program for city parks and trails, more pool lifeguards, additional parks, and enhanced efforts to protect the environment.
The budget also includes new and expanded services to meet state mandates that did not come with new state funding, and reflects increasing costs due to inflation and supply chain issues.
The city presented a preliminary draft budget to the City Council at its meeting on May 23 and hosted a community workshop on June 1 to answer questions and hear comments from residents.
During the presentation of the preliminary draft budget, the City Council requested additions for the adopted FY 23-24 budget, including:
Village property business improvement district
$20,000 has been added to study a potential Carlsbad Village property business improvement district.
Lowering railroad tracks in the Village
Staff explored several potential funding options to advance the project to lower the railroad tracks in the Village, including a federal grant program. The next phase of the project is estimated to cost $26.1 million, and $5.22 million in local funding is required to be eligible for the grant program.
The city’s FY 23-24 budget now includes a $5.22 million appropriation from the General Fund Reserve to meet the requirement. If the grant is not awarded, the city’s $5.22 million would be returned to the General Fund Reserve.
At a glance*
Proposed Operating Budget
The General Fund operating budget pays for most day-to-day city services.
$211.7 million
Projected revenues
The city’s budget is balanced with a surplus of approximately $300,000.
$212.0 million
New savings
Because the city has forecasted that ongoing spending will exceed ongoing revenues in the next few years, this year’s budget scales back contracted custodial services, nonessential parks maintenance, printing and other administrative expenses, travel and training for city staff, and city cell phone use, among other things expected to have a minimal impact on the community.
$2.3 million
Proposed staff reductions (net)
To help reduce ongoing spending as much as possible, several departments have eliminated or consolidated positions to reduce the total number of full-time equivalent positions.
– 12.06
Projected reserves
The General Fund reserve is like a rainy-day fund to help maintain city services during an emergency or help bridge economic downturns. The City Council’s policy is to always have the equivalent of 40% of one year’s budget in reserve. The projected amount at the end of the FY 24 is 59%. Since 2019, several new City Council policies and a new approach to developing the city’s budget have resulted in the city’s General Fund reserve growing by 43%.
$118.2 million
Pension funding
The pension funding ratio refers to the size of a city’s pension obligation (what is owed to retirees) compared to the money it has paid into the pension fund. Carlsbad is in the top three in the county for pension funding.
86% (goal is 80%)
* all figures refer to the city’s General Fund
