Midyear review: Burlington's revenues and expenditures track below budget; gross receipts lag

City finance staff presented a midyear FY25 budget-to-actuals review to the Board of Finance on Feb. 18 covering activity through Dec. 31, 2024.

The presentation showed both revenues and expenditures tracking about $4 million below budget; current projections pointed to a near breakeven position or a modest surplus of roughly $200,000, staff said. The report highlighted five major revenue streams—property taxes, PILOTs, fees for service, local option tax, and franchise fees—as largely within expected ranges; gross-receipts tax collections were the primary shortfall.

Clerk Treasurer staff reported gross-receipts tax submissions were down about 20.4% in number of filings and gross sales were down roughly 10.1% from a similar period last year, with the largest decreases concentrated in amusements, alcohol and admissions categories. The FY25 projection for gross-receipts revenue reported in the meeting was about $6.263 million versus a budgeted $7.2 million.

On the expenditure side, major departments comprising 55% of the general fund budget were generally near budget; the Department of Public Works showed larger variance due to earlier vacancies that the city said have largely been filled. The police department displayed a roughly 14% vacancy rate among sworn officers; staff attributed much of the department's expenditure variance to overtime and related staffing costs.

Staff said they will return with recommended expenditure adjustments and options to strengthen the unassigned fund balance ahead of FY26 budgeting. Board members asked for more granular reporting on PILOTs, fees for service and development fees, and staff said they will provide additional rollups in future reports. No formal action was taken.