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Finance director reports first-quarter budget status, TPT allocations and launches new town website
Summary
Finance presented a first-quarter FY25 financial update showing revenues at 18% of budget and expenditures at 13%; staff flagged TPT construction and bed-tax allocation clarifications, reported $37.7 million beginning fund balance, and previewed a refreshed town website that will go live Friday.
The town's finance director reported first-quarter fiscal-year-25 results and workplan items Monday and previewed a redesigned town website scheduled to go live Friday.
Key financials: On a cash basis and unaudited, first-quarter revenues were about $6.7 million (18% of the $38.0 million budget) and expenditures about $7.7 million (13% of the $57.4 million budget). The finance director noted that Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) collections are received after month close and that construction-related TPT and bed tax accounting require careful timing; construction TPT was reported at roughly 23% of its annual budget in the first quarter, while bed tax and lodging-tracking were presented separately for reporting clarity. The director reported a preliminary July 1 beginning fund balance of approximately $37.7 million and an ending first-quarter balance of about $36.7 million (unaudited).
TPT allocation and ordinance notes: Staff reviewed how the town's dedicated TPT half-cent allocations and the 4% bed tax have been recorded historically and noted that ordinances and past practice had been inconsistently applied in accounting. The finance director said the existing language about "funding of pledges" and reserve replenishment in older ordinances may benefit from clarification and suggested council consideration of refinements to ensure allocations (for wastewater, Spurcross, trails and water infrastructure) align with council intent and financial practice.
Other finance work and projects: Staff described efforts to reorganize utility-billing and accounting positions to gain capacity, complete CASSeL (CivicPlus/financial software) training, and cross-train staff. The FY24 audit fieldwork had begun and will continue; investment policy changes were adopted and the town's LGIP portfolio returned 4.64% in September, outpacing a three-year Treasury benchmark. The director also previewed internal reclassifications to shift accounts-payable and payroll responsibilities to billing/accounting staff to create capacity for higher-level finance work.
Website update: The town previewed a redesigned website with refreshed branding, a rotating home-banner, updated informational quick-links and a chatbot search feature ("CreekBot") intended to help residents find pages quickly. Staff said council and departmental photos and bios will be added after the next council swearing-in and that the new site will continue to be refined after the launch.
What's next: Staff will continue audit work, implement internal staffing and process changes, monitor TPT allocations and bring any ordinance-clarifying recommendations back to council for review.
