The City also maintains an encumbrance accounting system of purchase orders and contracts at the fund level as a means of accomplishing budgetary control. At each fiscal year end, open encumbrances are carried over to the new fiscal year. Purchase orders are reviewed to ensure that funds are available and that requests are properly authorized prior to being released to vendors.
The adopted budget for fiscal year 2024-25 was prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. As reflected in the statements and schedules included in the financial section of this report, the City continues to meet its responsibility for sound financial management.
The City comprises an area of approximately 26 square miles and, as of January 1, 2025, has a population of 51,980 according to data provided by the California Department of Finance. In addition to permanent residents, approximately 20,000 seasonal residents make Palm Desert their home for three to six months each year.
The City has cultivated a sound foundation of general fund revenues including sales tax, transient occupancy tax, licenses and permits, property tax, and investment earnings. The City's main revenue sources are transient occupancy taxes and sales tax. Due to the timing of the City's incorporation, in 1973, and the implementation of Proposition 13, the City receives less than 7 percent of property taxes; therefore, the City relies heavily on sales tax and transient occupancy tax.
As a community where economic, environmental, social, and cultural development flourishes, Palm Desert is a much sought-after place to visit and reside. Palm Desert is the first city in Riverside County to create a public art program and is home to numerous cultural attractions including: the McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts, a 1,127-seat theater that hosts a wide variety of A-list entertainers, touring theatrical productions and arts-related educational programs; the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, a 1,200-acre facility containing a wide array of plants and animals from desert regions around the world; and the Palm Desert Art in Public Places program, a museum without walls, featuring more than 150 works of art on permanent display throughout the city.
Palm Desert's active, five-star accredited Chamber of Commerce has more than 1,125 members who work to promote, support, and enhance business prosperity, civic vitality, and the quality of life within their community. Noted for its extensive array of retail options, including the world-famous upscale shopping destination of El Paseo, Palm Desert is home to a variety of malls and retail centers including The Shops at Palm Desert, Desert Crossing, The Gardens on El Paseo, and El Paseo Village. The internationally acclaimed Desert Willow Golf Resort, one of the nation's premier municipal courses, boasts 36 holes of championship golf and stunning scenery in close proximity to first-class hotel accommodations and fine dining. And in 2024, ground was broken for development to build a five-and-a-half-acre Wavegarden Cove, DSRT Surf, which will make it the largest of its kind in the United States.
The internationally acclaimed Desert Willow Golf Resort, one of the nation's premier municipal courses, boasts 36 holes of championship golf and stunning scenery in close proximity to first-class hotel accommodations and fine dining. And in 2024, ground was broken for development to build a five-and-a-half-acre Wavegarden Cove, DSRT Surf, which will make it the largest of its kind in the United States.
In addition to being the home of the Coachella Valley's only community college, College of the Desert, Palm Desert is the location of satellite campuses for both the University of California, Riverside, and California State University, San Bernardino, the region's only public, four-year university.
Riverside, and California State University, San Bernardino, the region's only public, four-year university.
Desert Willow Golf Resort
The State of California Employment Development Department Labor Market Information Division reported that the City of Palm Desert had an unemployment rate of 6.8%
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