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Peoria County reports FY24 unaudited year-end, cites PBRT shortfall and $1.8 million preliminary general fund surplus
Summary
County finance staff told the Legislative Affairs Committee that overall revenues were near budget but a state PBRT adjustment and fee waivers reduced some receipts; staff estimated a conservative $1.8 million general fund surplus pending final audit.
Peoria County finance staff presented an unaudited FY24 year-end and an early January 2025 update to the Legislative Affairs Committee, saying total revenues across all county funds were 94.8% of budget and expenditures 74.1%.
Julie, a Peoria County staff member, told the committee the general fund was 98.8% received and 90.3% spent. "From a high level revenue across all funds, intergovernmental revenue, we have PBRT, which was below budget expectations by 15.5%, which is 7,700,000.0 received across all funds," Julie said, citing a state adjustment to correct an error in the PBRT formula. She said the general fund's share of that hit was $957,000 and the total across all funds was about $1.4 million less than planned for FY24.
The nut graf: the shortfall in PBRT and other revenue variances affect near-term budgeting decisions and potential transfers between funds, and staff said they are monitoring revenues that may also be lower in FY25.
Julie outlined other revenue changes the committee should note. She said local use tax has trended downward because of recent legislative changes that change distribution mechanisms, though increased sales tax categories (supplemental and public facility sales taxes) offset some of that decline. "For FY24, we did have an increase of all these combined categories by 1.1% or $168,000 above what we were expecting," she said.
Charges for services varied by office. Julie said a misbudgeted revenue line linked to a program that began in June 2023 produced only $122,000 in FY24 (about 40.4% of budget), and she said the budget has been reduced for FY25. She also said circuit clerk fee revenue fell 13.7% compared with 2023 and 10.4% compared with 2022 after state legislation waived fees for people who qualify for public defender representation. Federal detention revenue, tied to the average daily population of federal inmates, was down by about $267,000.
On the positive side, Julie said county clerk and chargers offices collected about $220,000 more in charges for services, and late property tax receipts recorded in December were $242,000 above expectations (totaling $997,000). She reported that expenditures across all funds were below budget and that personnel expenses across funds were at about 95% of budget (94.8% in the general fund), producing approximately $1.9 million in savings attributed primarily to vacancies.
Julie said that as of Dec. 31 all funds met or exceeded the county's fund balance policy and that the county's current conservative estimate of a general fund surplus is $1.8 million; she cautioned the final number will be known after audit timing and adjustments.
Votes at a glance: the committee approved the minutes at the start of the meeting on a motion by committee member Linda, seconded by Eden; the chair called the vote and reported it was unanimous (tally not specified in the record).
The committee took no further action on the financial report at the meeting; staff said they will continue monitoring PBRT and other revenue sources for FY25 and report back as needed.
