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County reports revenues above budget; officials flag online sales-tax changes, building-permit fees, CoreCivic passthrough and ARPA balance
Summary
Committee members reviewed monthly financial statements showing county revenues above budget and discussed revenue drivers — a change in online sales-tax allocation, higher building-permit fees effective in May, passthrough payments related to CoreCivic, questions about matured CDs, and remaining ARPA funds.
County financial statements presented at the July Budget and Finance Committee meeting showed revenues running above budget in several major categories while expenditures lagged projected spending in many departments.
The committee chair summarized the financials: county revenues overall were reported at about 104% of budgeted expectations for the reviewed period, while expenditures were around 88.3% in the same comparison. The chair said revenues that the county has come to rely on include an online-sales tax allocation change (enacted in 2020 and producing receipts beginning in 2021) that directs tax on certain online purchases to the county when the seller meets a sales threshold.
Miss Mahan and finance staff noted that a change in building-permit fees took effect in May; the chair said that permits paid at the new fee rate began appearing in the May–June numbers and that a significant share of the additional permit revenue is designated for capital projects (ledger line cited during the meeting).
Committee members raised several other items during the financial review. Commissioner Dennis flagged a set of certificates of deposit (CDs) that appeared to have matured and shown no reinvestment in the trustee cash balances; finance staff said they would investigate which accounts (including CDs held at First National and a county CD at Wilson Bank and Trust) were involved and report back. The chair agreed that was a “good catch.”
The chair and staff also clarified that some large receipts shown in public-facing county revenue reports are pass-through funds. The chair used the CoreCivic-related receipts as an example, explaining that those payments come in and are promptly disbursed to the private entity and are not county discretionary funds.
On federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the committee was told the county’s ARPA balance is substantially drawn down; a speaker reported a remaining balance in the vicinity of $500,000. Finance staff said they have reviewed ARPA accounting and that spending timetables and obligations remain under control.
No new budget amendments were approved at this meeting; the committee approved the financial statements as presented by a motion from Commissioner Bubba Gregory and a second by Miss Atwood, and the chair recorded the motion as favorable.
The committee directed staff to follow up on the matured CDs and to continue monitoring online sales-tax receipts and building-permit revenue as they appear in coming reports.
