Provo City releases first-quarter financial update showing mixed sales-tax trends

John Borda, Provo City Administrative Services director, told the municipal council the city’s first-quarter financial results are unaudited but show the city roughly where it expected to be as work continues on the fiscal year budget. "This information is not audited, but the goal is to provide some kind of an update so you can see where we're trending," Borda said.

Borda said overall general-fund revenues were slightly below budget but above the prior year. He told council members sales tax receipts have been uneven, with a shortfall tied partly to fluctuations reported by the state tax commission. "As we get the December distribution ... we should have a better idea of where we're running," Borda said.

The report showed transfers into the general fund were up and that several enterprise funds outperformed budget in the quarter: the golf course was above budget, wastewater was ahead of last year, the airport posted revenue well above budget and prior year, and sanitation and water largely tracked budget. Borda also noted recreation, arts and parks receipts follow sales-tax performance and that Justice Court usage has rebounded since the pandemic.

Borda summarized appropriations and innovation project spending and highlighted that the library’s revenues are heavily dependent on the large November property-tax distribution, making the library’s interim revenue picture hard to evaluate.

The council thanked Borda for the overview and invited questions; no formal action was taken on the report itself.

The presentation did not resolve the sales-tax uncertainty: staff said they were in ongoing conversations with the state tax commission about distribution timing issues and would return with updated data after the next state distribution.