Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP)

Introduction 

The City of San Clemente, at Council direction, annually prepares a comprehensive Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP). The LTFP is intended to serve as a tool, providing Council and the public with the insight required to address issues impacting the City's financial condition.  The LTFP consists of a complete financial plan and an Issue Paper section which provides supporting documents used in developing a strategic plan after a thorough analysis of all issues that impact the City's financial condition.

Long Term Financial Plan Process

The flow chart below graphically describes the process that went into developing the City's Long Term Financial Plan.  This project was conducted by City staff.  In fact, 14 City staff members contributed directly to the Plan, while countless other employees also assisted in the gathering of information, research, word processing, scheduling meetings, etc. Including the Project Director, there were 10 project leaders each assigned to teams addressing a specific critical issue.

Long Term Financial Plan                                            

Annually, City Council identifies which projects and programs are of the highest priorities for the coming year.   Once priorities have been identified, Council and staff will identify the critical phases which have, or are expected to have, an impact on the financial condition of the City over the next five years.  For each of the critical areas, specific goals and objectives are developed for each project which is designed to meet the overall goal of the project:

• To provide a clear and concise Long Term Financial Plan, identifying the City's current and projected financial condition, and proposing specific alternatives to address identified problems. 

Project teams and team leaders were then selected based on individual talents and expertise in given critical issue areas.   A steering committee was formed in order to keep the project on track and on schedule.  Each team was then asked to prepare option papers that meet the goals and objectives already defined.  The key message expressed to each team was that the report had to be clear and concise while providing very specific and practical recommendations that addressed the issue at hand.  After several months of intensive effort and time by all staff involved, the option papers were completed and incorporated into the Long Term Financial Plan.

Once the issue papers were completed, the actual Long Term Financial Plan was developed by using the Financial Trend Analysis and Financial Forecast as the foundation of the plan.  Funding gaps for major one-time capital and maintenance projects are identified in the Capital Projects paper.  Applying the Trend Analysis and the Financial Forecast, based on the Capital Projects paper, will help with the decision and prioritization of projects as we move into the budget process.

Long Term Financial Plan Review

The City has prepared an annual Long Term Financial Plan since 1993.   Thus, the 2015 LTFP represents the twenty-third plan prepared by the City Administration for City Council consideration.  The plan focuses on financial and organizational issues and is designed to provide staff initiated solutions to problems identified through the financial planning process.

The following are Historical Reviews of previous LTFP's and the LTFP's themselves:

Long Term Financial Plan Review 2016
Long Term Financial Plan Review 2015
Long Term Financial Plan Review 2014
Long Term Financial Plan Review 2013
Long Term Financial Plan Historical Review

Long Term Financial Plan Documents

Click on the link below to view all of the previously submitted Long Term Financial Plans.

Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) Downloads