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Lake Forest Park finance director reports August budget on track; flag raised over traffic camera budget line
Summary
Budget Director Vaughn told the Budget & Finance Committee that overall operating and revenue numbers for August are close to targets, but staff identified an incorrect budget line for traffic safety camera operations that will change trend displays and be fixed in future reports.
John Lebo, chair of the Lake Forest Park Budget & Finance Committee, opened the Sept. 11 meeting and turned the floor to the city’s budget director for the monthly financial report.
Budget Director Vaughn said the city’s operating departments are generally tracking near the biennial budget’s mid-year target of 33.3 percent, but cautioned some line items skew higher or lower because of annual or quarterly payment timing. “I do want to remind us all that it is a biennial budget, so it’s 2025 and ’26 of what we’re looking at,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn summarized variances: public safety-related costs (police hiring/retirement activity) are running above the simple percentage because of timing; dispatch is paid quarterly and will appear elevated on a monthly snapshot; planning shows front-loaded professional services tied to the city’s climate element but is offset by an awarded grant; and police third-party overtime was under-budgeted and will require increased overtime expenditures because related wages and benefit loadings are reimbursed to the city.
Councilmembers asked about reimbursement timing for third-party overtime; Vaughn said invoices are submitted promptly and reimbursement is received monthly. Vaughn explained that reimbursements include not only wage amounts but also payroll-related benefit loadings.
On revenues, Vaughn reported the general fund and several enterprise funds are tracking close to projections: real estate excise tax (REET) at 44 percent of budget to date, sales and use tax at 36 percent, construction permits at 35 percent and passport revenue at 42 percent. He cautioned some right‑of‑way revenues tied to construction could pick up later in the year or may be trending down.
Vaughn also disclosed a data error in previous reports: the traffic safety operations budget line had been pulled incorrectly, showing an inflated departmental budget figure for prior months. He said August’s figures are corrected and August should be treated as the accurate month-to-date presentation; prior months showing the inflated budget number will be corrected. “That budget number was incorrect, not the number of the pay to date,” Vaughn told the committee, adding staff had transparently flagged the error.
The committee discussed project-specific reporting on the dashboard. Several councilmembers asked that design and construction phases be shown as separate contracts or, alternatively, that the dashboard present whole-project totals so readers can clearly see total project value versus expenditures to date. Vaughn and other staff said they will review how the CIP dashboard aggregates phases and contracts ahead of the CIP discussion later in the agenda.
The committee had no formal action on the financial report; members asked follow-up questions and requested ongoing clarifications about dashboard presentation and timing of reimbursements.
Ending: Committee members praised the finance team’s transparency and the report’s clarity. Chair Lebo moved the meeting on to the investment report and then the capital improvement plan update.
