Who We Serve
Built for California's public agencies.
From cities and counties managing broad service portfolios to fire districts carrying long-term pension obligations, CalMuni works across the full range of California local government, wherever fiscal complexity requires independent, substantive advice.
Cities & Counties
General-purpose government demands an integrated fiscal view.
Cities and counties manage the broadest service portfolios in local government: public safety, infrastructure, parks, planning, and human services, all competing for the same general fund revenue. Fiscal decisions carry direct public accountability, and the margin for error is narrow. A balanced budget is rarely enough. The question is whether the agency has the capacity to sustain its obligations over the next decade.
Key pressures
Multiple CalPERS bargaining units (safety and miscellaneous) compounding pension exposure at different tiers and cost trajectories
Infrastructure backlogs that arrive faster than annual budgets can absorb, creating deferred cost obligations that grow with time
Revenue constraints under Proposition 13 and Gann limits that restrict the structural flexibility to respond to cost pressure
Capital programs that require financing decisions with long-term carrying cost consequences, made without always having a clear fiscal capacity baseline
What we do
- Long-term financial forecasting and fiscal capacity baselines
- Multi-unit pension analysis, UAL strategy, and ADP planning
- Capital funding gap analysis and infrastructure financing
- Debt advisory: bonds, refundings, and direct placements
- Reserve policy development and fund balance review
- Board-ready fiscal capacity dashboards and presentations
Utility & Enterprise Districts
Enterprise funds must recover their full cost of service over time.
Water, wastewater, parks, and utility districts operate under a different fiscal logic than general-purpose governments. Revenues must cover costs: not just today, but across infrastructure replacement cycles that can span fifty years or more. Rate authority exists, but exercising it requires legal compliance, technical accuracy, and the kind of public communication that builds trust rather than eroding it.
Key pressures
Proposition 218 requirements that constrain how and when rates can be adjusted, and create legal risk when rate studies are technically inadequate
Long-duration capital programs (treatment plants, pipelines, distribution systems) that require decades of planned funding to remain current
Cost recovery gaps between what infrastructure actually costs and what current rates collect, often accumulating quietly over years
CalPERS and OPEB exposure within enterprise funds that must be accounted for in rate structures rather than absorbed by a general fund backstop
What we do
- Rate studies and cost-of-service analysis
- Revenue sufficiency and long-term rate modeling
- Infrastructure funding plans and capital financing strategies
- Revenue bonds, certificates of participation, and SRF financing
- Long-term enterprise fund forecasting with scenario analysis
- Proposition 218 compliance support and public process strategy
Joint Powers Authorities
Shared governance requires financial clarity that holds across member agencies.
JPAs operate at the intersection of multiple member agencies, each with its own budget pressures, governance priorities, and risk tolerance. Financial decisions that work for one member may not work for another. Contribution structures, capital financing, and long-term obligations all require a level of analytical precision that can survive scrutiny from every direction: member boards, auditors, and capital markets alike.
Key pressures
Member contribution formulas that must be equitable, defensible, and sustainable over time as member agencies' financial conditions diverge
Pooled financing opportunities that create complexity in credit positioning, structural design, and member liability allocation
Regional capital and service programs that require cross-agency financial planning without a single governing body that can resolve disagreements unilaterally
Governance structure and policy decisions that shape how the JPA manages obligations and makes financial decisions over the long term
What we do
- Member contribution modeling and formula development
- Pooled financing and regional debt advisory
- Long-term fiscal planning for shared capital programs
- Credit strategy and investor positioning for JPA credits
- Financial policy development and governance frameworks
- Post-issuance compliance and continuing disclosure support
Public Safety Districts
Life-safety obligations and long-term fiscal pressure require the same governing discipline.
Fire agencies and fire protection districts carry some of the most concentrated fiscal risk in California local government. Safety-tier CalPERS plans, OPEB obligations, apparatus replacement cycles, and labor agreements combine to create long-term cost structures that can exceed what property tax revenue alone can sustain. Most fire districts also lack dedicated finance staff, which means the analytical capacity to manage those obligations often has to come from outside.
Key pressures
Safety-tier CalPERS plans (typically 3%@50 or 3%@55) generating significant UAL exposure that compounds with investment underperformance and assumption changes
OPEB liabilities that are frequently unfunded or minimally funded, representing a long-term obligation that does not appear in the annual budget until it becomes a crisis
Apparatus replacement cycles (engines, aerials, and specialty vehicles) that require planned financing rather than ad hoc capital budgeting
Property tax as the primary revenue source, constrained by Proposition 13 and Gann limits, with limited tools to grow revenue in line with cost obligations
What we do
- Pension UAL analysis, ADP strategy, and 115 trust structuring
- Pension Management Policy development
- OPEB liability assessment and funding strategy
- Apparatus financing and equipment debt advisory
- Fiscal capacity and long-term financial planning
- Revenue strategy: parcel taxes, assessments, and fee structures
Ready to discuss your agency's fiscal capacity?
Schedule a confidential conversation about your capital needs, pension pressures, revenue strategy, upcoming financing, or long-term financial plan.