Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Budget office walks council through revenue sources and forecasts for FY2025 and multi‑year outlook
Summary
Budget Administrator Nicole Reitler and her team presented the city’s revenue structure, forecasting methods and multi‑year financial forecasts, emphasizing reliance on ad valorem taxes and the use of conservative revenue assumptions that underpinned the city’s 2025 adopted budget.
Budget Administrator Nicole Reitler and the city’s budget team presented a detailed “budget development” workshop on revenues and expenditures for fiscal year 2025 and a four‑year forecast.
Reitler reviewed the city’s revenue methodology: ad valorem (property) taxes comprised roughly 62% of general fund revenue in the FY2025 adopted budget, with the city conservatively budgeting property tax collections at 96% and several state shared revenues at 95% of expected amounts. She described the method for estimating “new growth” in taxable value — tracking certificates of occupancy for new homes and commercial projects — and explained that current forecasts showed new growth of roughly $1.5 billion in 2026, declining through 2028 in the city’s model.
Staff introduced members of the budget team, including Assistant Budget Administrator Jessica Festa, and summarized other major revenue streams — communication services tax, public service tax, municipal revenue sharing and impact fees — and how grant revenues are included when secured. Reitler walked through fee‑based funds: water/sewer user charges, the fire service assessment (FSA) which is described as a fee not a tax, and enterprise fund sufficiency studies used to set user fees consistent with bond covenants.
On expenditures, Reitler said the FY2025 personnel budget covered about 2,358.42 full‑time equivalent positions and the operating budget was roughly $273 million; the city’s capital budget for 2025 was about $233 million. Staff highlighted financial policies that prohibit using salary savings to cover operating or capital expenses except for a declared emergency and that require four‑year forecasts beyond the adopted budget. Reitler said the city’s FY2025 budget book won the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for long‑range operating financial planning.
Council asked questions about CDBG and federal funding risks, publication and archive of workshop materials, and how different revenue streams are projected and adjusted. Staff said all materials and the workshop recording are part of the packet and will be posted online.
