Committee forwards June vouchers and monthly financial report after review of REET spike and maintenance-facility spending

The committee voted 3-0 to forward June accounts-payable and payroll vouchers and the June monthly financial report to the Aug. 12 consent agenda after staff summarized the month’s unusual cash flows. Finance staff explained elevated accounts-payable totals in June were driven by construction draws on the city maintenance facility, including two large payments to the construction contractor. Finance staff said the city’s cash balances are returning toward pre-bond and pre-ARPA levels as construction disbursements proceed. “The June totals for our spending through accounts payable is [unusually high] because ... our M and O facility construction has really made our spending look unusually large,” the finance presenter said. Staff also noted a notable jump in real-estate-excise-tax receipts tied to a single commercial sale of roughly $20 million near Lakota Park, which produced a one-month increase in REET remittances. Councilmembers asked for follow-up detail on jail costs, trends in medical/mental-health jail spending, and timing of hotel booking patterns related to FIFA World Cup visitor demand. Finance staff said they track trends month to month and forecast quarterly and that they would provide requested line-item detail and additional analysis to councilmembers. The vouchers and the monthly financial report were forwarded to the Aug. 12 consent agenda for council approval (motion passed 3-0). Staff noted that the debt service payment schedule for the maintenance facility begins in December and that the city will continue quarterly monitoring of revenue and expenditure forecasts.