Manteca’s general fund reserves are projected to be at their healthiest level since 2007 when the current fiscal year ends on June 30.

Altogether $10,937,457 is anticipated to be in various municipal general fund reserve accounts. That’s up from $9,152,130 on June 30, 2012 and $9,910,519 on June 30, 2008. The $10.9 million projected fund balance for this year, however, is less than the $15,066,390 the city had on hand on June 30, 2006 just as the economy started plummeting. The June 2007 reserves were pegged at $14.7 million.

The anticipated general fund balance was part of a mid-year budget report made to the Manteca City Council earlier this month.

The biggest hit has been in the operations general reserve. Back in 2006 it was at $7,523,681.  Come June 30 it is anticipated to be at $1.6 million. That, however is a bit better than the estimate made when the current budget was adopted in July 2012. Back then the balance for June 30, 2013 was projected to come in at $1.2 million.

The reserves combined with slight improvements in property and sales taxes are expected to cover structural deficit budgeting for another year or so. Unless the economy takes an unexpected turn for the worse, Manteca is expected to shed structured deficit spending – when outgo exceeds income – by sometime in 2015. Various general fund reserves as well as bonus bucks paid for sewer allocation certainty coupled with spending, staff, and employee compensation cutbacks are allowing Manteca to stay within its financial means.

Manteca’s city leadership years ago adopted an informal reserve policy of 25 percent of operating expenditures. For the current fiscal year that would be $6,858,445. Most California cities have minimum general fund operating reserves of 10 to 15 percent which would be $2,743,375 or $4,115,605 in Manteca’s case based on the current budget.

Although all reserves that the city could tap potentially for general fund expenditures total $10.9 million, the 25 percent goal refers to the operations reserve At $1.6 million, Manteca is at 40 percent of a typical California city and about $5.2 million short of their 25 percent goal.

Back in 2006 Manteca had $7,523,681 in operating reserves or 22 percent of the $33,368,250 general fund budget.

Manteca’s emergency reserve stood at $1,918,000 for nearly 15 years until 2010. That’s when the council added $940,000 from the sale of the transit station site to the now defunct Manteca Redevelopment agency to bring the balance to $2,858,000. Interest has swelled that amount today to $2,863,000.

The rest of Manteca’s current general fund reserves include $4,980,271 in excise tax collected on growth and $64,352 on asset seizures.