Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City treasurer reports $288,000 year‑over‑year drop in general fund, offsets in other revenue sources
Summary
Lincoln’s treasurer told the City Council the general fund is roughly $288,000 lower than a year ago, while some revenue streams — municipal sales tax, non‑home rule sales tax and video gaming tax — have increased year‑to‑date.
Treasurer Conso told the Lincoln City Council on Aug. 18 that the city’s general fund balance is down about $288,000 from the same point a year ago, and that the community has seen mixed revenue trends across other accounts. "We're still in, I think, good shape with that, but we are down a couple 100,000 from where we were, about 288,000 to be exact from where we were a year ago," Conso said.
The nut of the report: some revenue lines have increased enough to partially offset declines. Conso said year‑to‑date municipal sales tax receipts rose by roughly $44,000 compared with the prior year and non‑home rule sales tax grew from about $339,000 to $375,000 year‑to‑date. "You'll also see differences there now with, the CDs. They're starting to mature and we have been renewing them because we've been able to get fairly good interest rates on them," Conso said, describing an effort to capture current rates on maturing certificates of deposit.
In the discussion that followed, Conso noted the personal property replacement tax had a significant year‑over‑year decline — about $37,000 less than the prior year — and that motor fuel tax receipts were largely unchanged despite an increased fuel tax rate. "It just made it more expensive for people to fill up their cars, which results in people driving less," Conso said, cautioning that higher tax rates do not necessarily produce higher local receipts.
Conso also reported a modest rise in video gaming tax receipts in recent months, roughly $7,000–$800 higher than the previous year to date. The treasurer said some of the revenue growth reflects statewide formulas — for example, state income tax distributions are calculated on statewide receipts and apportioned to municipalities based on population, not only local collections. Conso warned that population declines would reduce the city’s share under that formula.
The report concluded with a note that staff will present further details, including anticipated interest rates for renewing CDs, at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. There was no formal council action associated with the fiscal overview beyond questions for the treasurer.
