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Shaker Heights reported $67.3 million in General Fund operating revenue for 2025, up 9.2% from 2024 actuals. Its year-end budgetary unencumbered available balance was $29.9 million, equal to 45.4% of General Fund disbursements—above the City’s 25% minimum policy. A separate audited report puts total GAAP-basis General Fund balance at $46.2 million. Those balances measure different things, so the label and accounting basis matter.
How much did Shaker Heights’ General Fund revenue rise?
The City Finance Department’s February 17, 2026 year-end memo reports $67,316,519 in 2025 General Fund operating revenue, compared with $61,622,140 in 2024 actuals. The increase was $5,694,379, or 9.2%. The memo describes its comparison as unaudited.
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Against the original 2025 budget, revenue was $3,278,019 higher, or about 5.1%. It also exceeded the fall projection by $384,683, or 0.6%. These comparisons use different benchmarks: the adopted budget is the original plan, while the fall projection is a later estimate.
What drove the increase?
The City’s February memo identifies income-tax receipts as a major contributor: they rose $2.8 million, or 6.5%, year over year, and came in $317,000 above the fall projection. Property-tax receipts increased $2.3 million. Court costs also exceeded the original projection.
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The City’s 2026 budget discussion says income and property taxes together accounted for almost 85% of 2025 General Fund revenue. It also notes that investment earnings were more than $750,000 above the 2025 budget because interest rates did not decline as expected.
For a longer view, the ACFR’s cash-basis statistical series reports that municipal income-tax revenue grew 38.1% from 2015 through 2025; 2025 was 6.4% above 2024 in that series. The 2025 collections were 52.0% from individual taxpayers, 44.0% from employer withholding, and 3.4% from net-profit taxes, with the remainder from penalties, interest, refunds, and adjustments. These historical cash-basis figures are not the same accounting comparison as the budgetary operating-revenue figures above.
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Why do the reports show different fund-balance numbers?
“Fund balance” can refer to amounts calculated under different accounting bases or classifications. The City’s 2026 budget uses a budgetary, unencumbered “available” balance of $29.9 million for its reserve discussion. The audited ACFR reports $46,202,393 as total General Fund balance at December 31, 2025, and $33,572,205 as its unassigned portion. These are not interchangeable figures or a contradiction.
| Measure | 2025 amount | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Budgetary unencumbered available balance | $29.9 million | The available balance used in the City’s reserve-ratio discussion. |
| Total GAAP General Fund balance | $46,202,393 | The ACFR’s audited total fund balance at December 31, 2025. |
| Unassigned GAAP General Fund balance | $33,572,205 | The unassigned classification within the ACFR’s total General Fund balance. |
The ACFR classifies the remaining GAAP balance as $597,120 nonspendable, $1,682,023 committed, and $10,351,045 assigned. Together with the unassigned amount, those classifications make up the reported $46,202,393 total.
The City explains that budgetary accounting records revenue when received in cash and treats expenditures differently from GAAP, including how paid or encumbered costs are recorded. Some funds included in the General Fund on GAAP statements also have separately adopted budgets. For that reason, a reader should compare balances only after checking the basis, classification, date, and purpose of the figure.
Is the City’s reserve above its minimum?
Yes. The City reports its 2025 year-end budgetary unencumbered reserve at 45.4% of General Fund disbursements, up from 45.2% at the end of 2024. The 2026 budget states that the City’s minimum fund-balance goal is 25%, measured against annual operating expenditures on the non-GAAP budgetary basis. The 45.4% reserve ratio is therefore above the stated policy minimum under the City’s own measure.
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The ratio is not a free-standing percentage of all GAAP fund balance: its numerator is the budgetary available balance, and its denominator is General Fund disbursements. Reserve percentages should not be compared across governments without checking that both the numerator and denominator are defined the same way.
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What happened to spending and the year-end result?
The Finance memo reports 2025 operating expenditures of $47,267,237. That was 2.2% below the fall projection and 5.7% below the adopted budget. The City says some positions were unfilled or began later than budgeted, reducing personnel costs; Public Works’ other expenses finished almost $852,000 below budget.
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The memo’s reported result was a $1.4 million excess of General Fund revenues over disbursements. The ACFR’s audited table separately shows total GAAP General Fund balance increased by $1,110,988, from $45,091,405 in 2024 to $46,202,393 in 2025. These figures describe different measures and accounting presentations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the 2026 budget say—and not say?
Shaker Heights adopted $66.628 million in General Fund revenue for 2026, about $688,519 (1.0%) below 2025 actual revenue. The budget also provides $53.601 million for operating expenditures and $13.014 million for transfers. It anticipates a $12,234 net operating result and a 44.9% ending reserve ratio.
Those are adopted-budget forecasts, not actual 2026 results. They do not establish whether revenue growth will continue. The budget’s revenue estimate is slightly below 2025 actuals, and the eventual trend can be judged only from later actual results.
How to read the City’s financial documents
The ACFR’s independent auditor’s report, dated June 24, 2026, gives unmodified opinions on the basic financial statements. The ACFR marks its management discussion and analysis as unaudited; its explanation that the balance increase was primarily due to higher municipal income- and property-tax receipts is management’s account, not an auditor’s conclusion. The City’s MD&A says higher property-tax receipts reflected the effect of higher City tax valuation in the prior year.
The City’s financial documents index links to its budget and ACFR materials. When checking a number, identify whether it is actual, projected, or budgeted; whether it is on a budgetary or GAAP basis; and whether it refers to total, available, or unassigned balance.
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