The City of Manteca’s planned $44.5 million budget deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1 — basically a required accounting procedure involving several major infrastructure projects getting underway — is turning into a political football.

Jacob Naven, who is running for mayor Nov. 3 against incumbent Gary Singh, has posted on social media the questions “what will change so this isn’t a continued trend? What will be done to make sure the expenses don’t continue to outpace revenue?”

Finance Director Matthew Boring and his staff answered the questions during the presentation of the proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year at Tuesday’s meeting by repeating answers already provided in various public documents.

It reflects the “booking” the cost for one-time capital projects involving multiple-year infrastructure investments.

The money and revenue to pay for the projects has either been collected and is sitting in available fund balances or are tied to established revenue streams such as monthly sewer and water charges as well as bonds yet to be issued.

Those infrastructure projects include major wastewater treatment plant upgrades, replacement of aging water and sewer lines, as well as the $92 million police station breaking ground this fall in the 600 block of South Main Street.

Due to established accounting practices, the total cost for the projects that will require two to four years to complete are part of the upcoming budget.

They are being launched with money already on hand and committed for specific purposes — $25 million in sewer bonds that have already been funded, $16 million in a state grant to pay for the permanent homeless navigation center, and $27 million in growth fees that have already been collected to help finance the police headquarters project.

Money from water and sewer and utilities in the coming years are covering the “deficit” for the water and sewer projects.

Upwards of $8 million in future Measure Q proceeds will go to retiring the “deficit” — which is basically the bond repayment — for the police headquarters.

There are dedicated sources of funding to retire the debt or “deficit” going forward.

The city could not go forward with any of the projects if they waited until they had 100 percent of the cost in hand.

One reason is construction costs are going up significantly higher than money being saved drawing interest meaning the money collected loses purchasing power with every passing year.

In a sense, it is the same concept behind needing a mortgage to buy a house.

Most people can’t come up with 100 percent of the cost.

Like home buyers, the city has effectively built up a downpayment from growth fees and utility charges.

Just like a mortgage is secured by future household income to pay off the balance, the city is relying on a dedicated portion of monthly sewer and water rates, growth fees, and future Measure Q sales tax.

The bottom line, is the upcoming budget is structurally balanced from an operational perspective with the caveat there is outstanding debt on multiple years for infrastructure noted that is being paid off in subsequent budget years using dedicated revenue sources.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com