Fullerton will be at least a month late in presenting its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which is scheduled to happen later this month, pending results from the first phase of an independent forensic audit.
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“The municipal code requires me to present a budget prior to June 5. That is not happening this year,” Fullerton City Manager Eddie Manfro said during the June 2, 2026 City Council meeting. Manfro told the council he wanted to wait for the results of the audit, which the city is scheduled to receive on Tuesday, June 16.
“I want to have that information at our disposal so we can move forward and have budget discussions with all of the relevant information,” Manfro added.
Grant Thornton, a Newport Beach-based audit, tax and advisory firm, was contracted to conduct a phased review of city accounting after a budget update by staff in March revealed publicly that close to $10 million in general fund reserves had been incorrectly categorized and were allocated for specific uses instead of the general fund and a $2.9 million clerical error that had reportedly gone unnoticed since 2022.
“Right now, we are tentatively scheduled to have a budget study session on July 14, with adoption hopefully on July 21, and a community meeting in between those two dates,” said Manfro, who told the council he could schedule additional community meetings to discuss the budget or host earlier sessions at their request.
“There would be a pretty short period of time between that and adoption on July 21,” he said.
Councilmember Nick Dunlap interjected to remind Manfro that the council had voted to hold no fewer than two meetings.
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“That was something we voted on,” Dunlap said. “We talked about holding the meetings in different parts of the city to help facilitate public meetings and get feedback.”
Kim Chaudhry, a senior administrative analyst with the city, said a presentation on the audit will be provided at Tuesday’s council meeting. However, she said that because the audit presentation is not an agenda item, there are no related agenda materials or other documents available at this time.
She said information regarding the proposed 2026-27 budget will be presented publicly during community budget meetings, which Chaudhry said are tentatively scheduled for early July.
“The proposed budget has not yet been released, so there are currently no budget documents available for public review yet,” Chaudhry said.
Once adopted, city officials said the budget document will be posted on the city’s website for public review.
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The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.