Finance director reviews PEST fund allocation and use tax basics

At the Sept. 9 meeting, Finance Director Chris Bridal provided an overview of Yukon’s public employee sales tax (PEST) fund and explained how use tax revenue is allocated and used by the city. Bridal said the PEST fund collections are divided by ordinance 11-32 (passed Dec. 16, 2003) into three accounts: police (36.23 percent), fire (30 percent) and general employees (33 1/3 percent). He said the ordinance specifies that PEST dollars may be used only for competitive compensation and benefits, additional personnel and department-related equipment for the specified groups. Bridal also described use tax as a tax on tangible personal property purchased out-of-state but used, stored or consumed within Yukon; the city collects the same 4¢ allocation as with sales tax. He said one cent of the 4¢ is dedicated to capital improvements and the remaining three cents are designated for general fund use. Bridal told council members the report presented was preliminary because the month was early for full reconciliation and sales tax receipts had just been received. He said a fuller financial update for August would be presented at the October meeting. Council members asked a few clarifying questions; an audience member who said he had been involved in earlier council deliberations on PEST provided historical context about how the original percentages were calculated.