At their September 29, 2025, meeting, the Sonoma City Council received the Fiscal Year 2024–25 year-end update. The City had planned to use roughly $3.3 million from General Fund reserves to close an anticipated General Fund shortfall, but actual results were more favorable: revenues exceeded the amended budget by $2.6 million, and expenditures were $1.2 million below budget, producing a $553,662 surplus for the year. As a result, the City did not use reserves and instead added about $0.6 million to the General Fund reserves, bringing the year-end reserve balance to $16.5 million.
While the general economic outlook remains uncertain, these results reflect careful resource management by City staff and the City Council and provide a stronger buffer as the City continues to evaluate multi-year forecasts and potential challenges.
As part of the City’s commitment to transparency, Sonoma also launched the Live Budget Dashboard, an interactive tool (powered by OpenGov) that lets residents explore budget vs. actuals for the prior year and near real-time data for the current year (data updated nightly). The dashboard complements the adopted budget, financial reports, and audits and is part of the City’s broader effort to modernize financial reporting.
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