Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City CFO: midyear finances largely stable but sales and electric-related receipts below expectations
Summary
At midyear the general fund is on a solid glide path and property-tax collections are near target, but sales-tax holidays and lower electric/franchise receipts are projected to reduce revenues by several million; pensions posted strong investment returns and fund balance remains healthy.
Dennis Rejera, Tampa’s chief financial officer, told council during the midyear financial presentation that the city’s general fund is on “a very good glide path” but that several elastic revenue streams are below budgeted expectations.
Rejera said property-tax receipts are essentially on target and are the strongest and most stable general fund source. He told council that sales tax receipts are running a few million dollars below the original budget estimate — a shortfall he linked to recent state sales-tax holiday schedules and softer consumer spending — and that electric franchise fees and related utility service taxes are collectively also running several million dollars below plan.
The CFO highlighted positive items: operating expenditures and personnel-cost forecasts are not exceeding budget projections, and the city’s pension funds posted strong investment returns last year, reducing the actuarial contribution pressure for this year. Rejera noted the Fire & Police pension produced a very strong return and that their contribution requirement fell accordingly.
Fund balance and risks: Rejera said the city’s unassigned fund balance is strong — in line with targets at roughly the 23% level — which gives the city flexibility while waiting for FEMA reimbursements and facing hurricane-related costs. He also cautioned the council about a range of economic uncertainties: slowing GDP growth, consumer-spending softness and potential state-level sales-tax policy changes that could affect municipal receipts.
Council requests and follow-ups: council asked finance staff to provide more detail on stormwater funds (break out the two stormwater-related funds and provide historical context) and for a post to the budget advisory committee and the public. Finance staff said they will provide the requested breakdown and make the midyear documents available online.
Ending: Rejera closed by urging continued caution; council members praised the finance team for timely reporting and asked for the midyear materials to be shared with advisory groups and posted publicly.
