Finance director presents unaudited FY2025 results; general fund projects modest surplus

Miss Calabay presented the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors with an unaudited financial update for fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30. She said preliminary figures show the county likely will finish the year with a small surplus in the general fund and some one-time excess fund balance above the county policy threshold.

The nut graf: preliminary numbers guide budget planning and capital spending; auditors are scheduled on site next week and a final audited report will be presented later this year.

"This is an unaudited report," Miss Calabay told the board and cautioned that figures could change during the audit. She said property taxes made up 62% of general fund revenue in FY25 and that a tax increase adopted during the budget season contributed to additional revenue recognition this year.

Miss Calabay walked the board through several key figures: she estimated general fund revenue would end about $830,000 above budget after accounting for shortfalls in some consumer-driven local taxes; she said general fund spending is expected to come in about 3% under budget (roughly $1.5 million in underspending) and that, after appropriations for the 2026 budget, the county would still have about $1.4 million in fund balance above the policy minimum of 16%.

She told supervisors that other-local-taxes (sales, lodging and meals) came in about $347,000 under budget, partially offsetting the property-tax gains. On the utilities fund, Miss Calabay said the unassigned fund balance is expected to be roughly $600,000 and reiterated prior guidance that a target fund balance for utilities should be on the order of 20–25% of expenditures.

Miss Calabay also summarized grant activity: the county submitted 43 grant applications in FY25 and was awarded about $1.7 million in grant funds, the majority at the state level. She noted federal grants made up a smaller portion of total awards.

On school-related funds, Miss Calabay reported the school sales tax generated $6,050,000 in FY25, bringing total revenue from the tax to about $23.3 million since inception, with roughly $1.3 million in interest earnings and about $8.5 million spent on eligible project debt service to date. The board discussed whether funds from the school sales tax could cover additional generator work at the high school; Miss Calabay said the county attorney would need to advise on eligibility and classification.

Miss Calabay reminded the board that external auditors will be on-site the coming week, and that the final audit presentation is scheduled for December. She said staff are working on the FY27 capital and operating budgets and will return with midyear updates in February.

Less critical: she asked the board whether they preferred a September preliminary update or a later October presentation with firmer numbers; several supervisors asked staff to prepare a recommendation on utilities fund balance transfers for an upcoming meeting.