From the Mayor's Desk: December 5, 2025

The City of Cerritos is committed to responsibly managing public resources that support the City’s long-term financial goals and strengthen our future. This commitment to fiscal transparency and sustainability is prioritized in our Strategic Plan and is symbolic of our Cerritos in Progress theme.

To provide clarity on the City's budget process, we're sharing information directly with our residents. Beginning this week, Cerritos households will receive our Budget at a Glance document in the mail. It features statistics and information graphics on projected Citywide expenses, key sources of revenue, and sales tax allocations for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.

Budgets at a glance are commonly produced by cities and corporations to highlight key data points within a comprehensive budget. Budgets are lengthy and carefully detailed - and for good reason. The Budget at a Glance provides a more consumable, high-level account of the City’s fiscal operations. Additionally, we hope it inspires more routine engagement with our community on the budget process moving forward. This information is also available online at cerritos.gov/future.

A prominent section of the Budget at a Glance is the City’s General Fund. While Cerritos has multiple revenue streams – or fund types - to support City expenses, the General Fund is Cerritos’ primary operating fund. In Fiscal Year 2025-2026, it includes over $101 million in projected revenue. Within the General Fund, sales tax is the largest revenue source, representing nearly half of total General Fund revenue. This is why business development, retention, and consumer engagement is crucial to the City of Cerritos.

To further illustrate this point, the Budget at a Glance breaks down the sales tax portion of the City’s budget. Out of the 9.75% sales tax paid by consumers, the City currently receives 1%. This means that, for every dollar spent in Cerritos, the City receives one cent. Sales tax revenue directly funds important citywide services, including sidewalk and tree maintenance, recreation and library programs, and crime prevention.

We hope you’ll take a moment to review the Budget at a Glance and visit cerritos.gov/future to learn more about the City’s finances.

The annual budget process begins months prior to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. During this time, there are multiple budget study sessions between City staff and the City Council that will guide staff’s work in preparing the preliminary budget. The process concludes with a public hearing and formal budget adoption. Our first budget study session for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 is scheduled as part of the City Council meeting next Thursday, December 11, beginning at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. You can view agenda details at www.cerritos.gov/agendas.