Short-term financial planning is an ongoing and dynamic process that plays a vital role in the City's fiscal health, carefully managing budgets, cash flow, reserves, and debt while remaining adaptable to changing circumstances. The short-term financial plan acts as a stepping-stone that helps the City progress towards its long-term vision, where it can ensure its financial stability and ability to provide essential services to its residents.
Long-range financial planning is an essential component of effective governance for the City. A Long-Range Financial Plan (LRFP) gives the City the chance to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) financial analysis. The SWOT process can help evaluate potential opportunities and risks and help the City to operate more proactively and efficiently.
Long-term financial planning relates to strategic planning, developing financial policies, capital improvement planning, and budgeting. Each criteria fulfills a different combination of planning purposes.
The LRFP for FY 2026/27 through FY 2030/31 provides projections for the City's revenues, expenditures, and resulting fund balance for a comprehensive five-year planning period. It is important to note that the LRFP does not aim to predict the future with certainty, but rather to raise awareness about potential financial challenges and opportunities that the City may encounter.
Through financial planning and forecasting, the LRFP offers valuable insights into the City's future financial capacity. This enables the development of strategic approaches to achieve long-term sustainability while considering the objectives of City services and addressing financial challenges.
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