Coachella Faces Potential Budgeting Challenges Into Next Fiscal Year

The Coachella City Council is holding a special session tomorrow to discuss the city’s fiscal year budget.

The meeting will take place at City Hall Council Chamber, located at 1515 Sixth Street in Coachella. According to the public notice, this is an informal study session where "no action is contemplated other than familiarization of the Council on specific topics and potential referral to a future agenda."

Budget Highlights

According to the staff report from Finance Director Lincoln Bogard, the city faces financial challenges in the upcoming fiscal year. The proposed budget shows total revenues of $144.24 million and appropriations of $159.51 million across all city funds.

The General Fund, which covers day-to-day city operations, faces a $2.43 million deficit with $39.13 million in revenues against $41.56 million in expenditures. However, city management has identified potential cuts that could reduce this deficit to $605,567.

Public Safety Costs Rising

According to the staff report, a large part of this budgeting problem is being shifted over to fees owed to Riverside County-related public safety costs. In particular, Police and Fire department expenditures. Those two departments combined are expected to increase their fees by over $2 million or 11.80% compared to last year.

"The County of Riverside's continuous increase in public safety services is limiting the amounts available to address capital needs, maintenance, and operations in existing and future facilities," the staff report states.

The study session will allow council members to review these budget details and provide feedback before any formal action is taken at a future meeting.

How to Attend

In Person: Residents can attend at City Hall. Those wishing to speak during public comment must fill out a Request to Speak Form and submit it to the City Clerk before the public comment period begins.

Phone: Residents can dial +1 669 900 6833 to listen by phone.

Email Comments: Written public comments can be submitted to cityclerk@coachella.org by 12:00 PM on the day of the meeting. These comments will be forwarded to the City Council but will not be read aloud.

Live Stream: The meeting can be viewed live on the city's website at www.coachella.org by clicking "Watch Council Meetings" and then the "live" button.

You can also attend via Zoom.