From the Mayor's Desk: August 15, 2025

To achieve the City’s Strategic Goal number 6: Focus on Fiscal Transparency and Sustainability, we must strengthen public trust and responsibly manage resources. This requires transparent financial practices, meeting all legal obligations, and making well-informed decisions that support the City of Cerritos long term. 

While there was significant public conversation ahead of the new fiscal year budget that went into effect on July 1, the finances of our City are always a topic of discussion. Recently, you may have heard about the City’s review of water rate adjustment options. These conversations precede the consideration of water and sewer rate studies to support our residents for years to come. We'll continue to engage with residents in the weeks ahead, as this is an important conversation with a complex history. It’s also important that people are aware of the fiscal responsibility we strive to uphold when conducting the City’s business.

Cerritos maintains an online portal providing residents and stakeholders with access to financial data, including revenues, expenditures, and budget trends. This transparency platform, found on our budget webpage at www.cerritos.gov/budget, allows the public to explore financial information in a clear and accessible format.  

The City’s reserve balance, the equivalent of an individual savings account, is vital for ensuring Cerritos can sustain operations and services during economic downturns or unexpected events. We’re proud to have recently adopted a new policy that provides clear guidelines for maintaining reserve levels at or above industry standards. Another new initiative is our Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Prioritization Policy, our framework for evaluating and prioritizing capital projects. To ensure resources are allocated effectively and responsibly, we’ve identified objective criteria such as public safety, regulatory compliance, and return on investment.

Responsible practices are also evident in how we report our data. For the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget year, the Budget and Finance Division earned the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) award for its budget document. This accomplishment recognizes the City's commitment to clear communication, transparency, and excellence in financial reporting. A detailed Annual Comprehensive Financial Report is also provided each year in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requirements. In addition, quarterly financial updates are routinely presented to keep the City Council and the public informed of the City’s fiscal position, including revenue and expenditure trends.

Currently, the City is going through the implementation of a modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to improve accuracy, efficiency, and transparency. ERP systems streamline operations by unifying data across different areas like finance, human resources, and information technology. 

Financial responsibility is critical to the health of our City, as is hearing the perspectives of our residents. Thank you for your participation in this process so that we can make informed decisions in pursuit of our Strategic Goals. It is a privilege to be entrusted with the stewardship of the public’s resources, and we remain committed to spending those resources in a fair, transparent, and prudent manner that serves the best interests of Cerritos.