The City of Upland has passed a balanced budget for the 2023/2024 fiscal year—the first time in four years that the budget was balanced without using one-time funding.

Despite rising costs, the City takes pride in the fact that our departments are performing outstanding work with the resources they have. We will continue to seek additional revenue sources to improve the quality of life in Upland. Faster 9-1-1 police response times, getting potholes fixed quicker, Citywide Street improvements, and sidewalk repairs remain top priorities we are working to address in the future.

The good news is that Upland’s fiscal condition remains stable and there are signs of improvement. The City Council’s thoughtful and measured response to our fiscal situation has kept Upland on a sustainable financial path while the City continues to provide core services. Looking forward to the next five years, we must focus on safeguarding our operating reserves and make strategic financial decisions to ensure that we have a resilient City over the long-term.

With this year’s budget, the General Fund will cover all the recent staffing additions to our Police Department made initially two years ago with one-time funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The City Council prioritized identifying long-term funding for these new police positions so they wouldn’t go away when the one-time funding ended.

Another accomplishment was the recent completion of new Memorandums of Understanding with the City’s four bargaining groups. The City Council supported efforts to retain our valuable employees and implemented a classification and compensation study that brings Upland employees to the median salary of our comparable agencies (12 local cities of a similar size). Negotiations with the City’s four bargaining groups yielded long-term agreements that gives the City the labor security essential for efficient operations over the long-term.

Finally, notable capital improvement projects are scheduled for completion this fiscal year including the Arrow Highway rehabilitation project, which is bringing new pavement from North Benson to North San Antonio avenues at a cost of over $11 million and the multi-year construction of Reservoir 15 at over $17 million, an infrastructure investment which will provide clean water storage for many years to come.

The City of Upland's award-winning budgets and financial reports are available for viewing online at www.uplandca.gov/budgeting-financial-reporting.  

The City of Upland operates on a fiscal year basis from July 1st through June 30th of the following year.  Accordingly, the City adopts an Annual Budget, which begins in July and ends in June.  Work begins on the budget in January of each year as the City reviews the mid-year revenues and expenditures and begins preparing a draft budget for the following fiscal year.  Departmental meetings are held with the Finance Department and the City Manager’s Office during March and April to prepare a preliminary budget for the City Council to review.  In early June, the City meets with the Finance Committee to review the preliminary budget, answer questions, and receive input on the following fiscal year’s budget.  Following the Finance Committee meeting, the final budget is presented to the City Council for adoption.

The City of Upland prepares monthly financial reports which are presented to City Council during City Council Meetings.