Jefferson City finance staff told council members on Monday that July sales-tax collections came in below projections and that the general fund is about $225,000 under budget year to date, while other revenue categories are tracking higher and may offset part of the shortfall.

In a briefing to the council finance packet, staff said sales tax collections in July were roughly $166,000 under projections for the month and that capital improvement and park-dedicated sales tax lines are about $227,000 under projections year to date. The finance presenter said the city is monitoring collections and will discuss reallocating capital improvement resources if needed.

On employee health coverage, staff reported an unaudited cash balance of about $834,907 for the city’s self-funded health plan and said adjusted expense projections for the plan have fallen from an early-year projection of about $6.4 million to roughly $5.5 million — about $900,000 under the original projection. The presenter cautioned, however, that an extended out-of-network period between MU Health and Anthem earlier this year was retroactively resolved and that Anthem’s handling of retroactive claims remains unresolved. City staff and the broker McGriff said they do not yet know how many retroactive claims will be filed, how many residents delayed care, or whether claim volumes will spike as patients seek delayed care; the city’s claim year closes Oct. 31 but claims often settle into the next spring.

Council members asked staff to include ongoing updates to the council as Anthem begins processing retroactive claims, and staff said those updates will be provided going forward. The finance presenter said the city remains above its required fund balance threshold for fiscal year 2025 by roughly $909,000 based on current estimates but warned that the situation is “unprecedented” and subject to change as claims are processed.