Approaches to Budgeting in San Bernardino
Zuyva Ruiz brings both technical accounting expertise and hands-on budget experience to her role as the budget division manager for the City of San Bernardino. “It’s really changed the way I think about process design, system improvements, and the overall long-term fiscal sustainability in support of reliable service delivery for the community,” she said. After working in finance and accounting for eight years in the private sector, Ruiz joined the City of San Bernardino in 2021. For Ruiz, transitioning from the private sector to the public sector highlighted the important differences in financial reporting, accountability, and internal controls. She emphasized “the importance of maintaining a clear audit trail, ensuring that decisions are well documented, and that the right questions are asked to support solutions that are transparent and defensible, and then aligned with overall public-sector standards and accounting standards.” Ruiz’s focus underwent a transition from accounting to budgeting, and her interest piqued while doing her undergraduate coursework at California State University in San Bernardino
Publication Date: February 2026
