Five Year Financial Forecast
This document is the City of Clayton’s Long-Term Financial Forecast (LTFF). This forecast will be updated annually to assist in the planning for a successful future for the City of Clayton. The entire city organization is committed to doing all that is necessary to develop and stabilize our financial base, which is essential to the provision of service to the community. Regardless of whether the economy is expanding, contracting, or remaining stable, financial planning is a prudent activity, and maintenance of the LTFF is essential to sound fiscal management. In general, budgetary problems will result when revenues do not keep pace with expenditures (from an annual growth perspective). That said, there is more to financial planning than just keeping the budget balanced. The LTFF provides the strategic foundation to understanding the various trends to allow a comprehensive review of programs and services provided to the community and how these needs may change both in the near-term and the long-term.
The forecast is intended to be a review of the city’s financial health over a conservative but realistic scenario. The forecast follows the assumptions within the memo and if the forecast differs from the memo assumptions it is because of known information that allowed for deviation from the general assumptions
