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Finance director says solid‑waste revenues were conservatively estimated; staff will file amendment to update FY2025 estimates
Summary
Interim Finance Director Crystal Feist explained why the FY2025 solid‑waste revenue estimate was lower than later collections, described fund accounting rules and said staff will update estimates via a budget amendment once several months of actuals are available.
Interim Finance Director Crystal Feist briefed council on a series of public questions about the city’s solid‑waste fund and how fund balance and revenue estimates were handled in the FY2025 adopted budget.
Feist said the department used the city’s standard practice in July when developing the proposed budget — projecting revenues from prior‑year actuals and applying an escalator — because the final assessed rates had not yet been adopted. Once the adopted rate structure was available in August and several months of actual collections were observed, staff planned to adjust FY2025 revenue estimates through a budget amendment (referred to in the meeting as BA2) rather than retroactively altering the already‑adopted budget book. She emphasized the distinction between estimated revenues used for budget preparation and actual revenues collected into the fund.
Feist addressed three finance‑policy questions raised by councilmembers: policy 3 (expenditure controls prohibiting reallocation of personnel savings except in declared emergencies), policy 4 (prohibiting use of reserves intended for nonrecurring purposes to fund recurring municipal services) and policy 11 (requiring four‑year forecasts). She said the solid‑waste fund is a special revenue fund established specifically to hold assessments and fees dedicated to the solid‑waste program; by design those funds are restricted to the program and fund balance in that special revenue account is not treated the same as general‑fund committed reserves.
Councilmembers asked for the distinction between “committed” and “restricted” fund balance and how treasury investment income on short‑term balances is handled. Feist said the treasury function invests funds under the city’s conservative investment policy, interest earned is recorded to the fund that earned it and the city’s quarterly treasury committee monitors portfolio performance.
Councilmembers asked that staff make the adjusted solid‑waste revenue estimates and the budget amendment public; Feist said staff will submit an amendment and that the forecast numbers for FY2026 and beyond will be updated in the next budget cycle.
