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Township posts favorable year-to-date revenue and expenditure variances; sales tax lags budget
Summary
Chief Financial Officer Kellen Shaw presented November 2024 results: year-to-date revenue exceeded budget by about $1.6 million, expenditures were below budget by $3.7 million, sales tax trailed budget by $1.9 million, and hotel-occupancy and mixed-beverage receipts exceeded expectations.
Kellen Shaw, The Woodlands Township chief financial officer, presented the board with financial results through Nov. 30, 2024, showing a favorable operating position overall but mixed results by revenue type.
Year-to-date budgeted revenue through November was $127,200,000; actual collections reported were $128,800,000, a favorable variance of roughly $1,600,000. Shaw said the variance was driven by higher-than-budgeted interest income, parking and lease receipts and some insurance proceeds. He noted consolidated property-tax revenue showed an unfavorable variance.
On expenses, year-to-date budgeted expenditures were $118,000,000 while actual spending was $114,300,000, producing a favorable variance of about $3,700,000. Shaw said most departments showed favorable variances; an exception was “other expenditures,” which includes hurricane debris cleanup and tree removal and carried an unfavorable variance of about $1,800,000.
Sales tax collections were $73,700,000 year to date versus a budgeted $75,700,000 (a $1.9 million unfavorable variance), though Shaw noted total sales tax receipts were higher than 2023 by about $1,500,000. Hotel occupancy tax deposits were $10,300,000 year to date (favorable by $478,000), the first time totals topped $10 million; mixed beverage receipts were $1,500,000 (about 23% over budget).
The board moved to accept the financial report for the 11 months ending Nov. 30, 2024; Directors Heizer and Snyder moved and seconded the approval.
Why it matters: The revenue and expenditure variances affect the township’s near-term budget flexibility and planning for capital projects and obligations such as the event-tax repayment to Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
