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Finance committee: $14.5 million unencumbered, ambulance revenue rises and funds moved to money market
Summary
At a Fostoria Finance Committee meeting, the finance director reported $22 million in bank balances with $7.5 million encumbered, leaving $14.5 million unencumbered; ambulance billing revenue and a plan to move proceeds to a money market account were discussed, and the committee reviewed expanded online payment options.
The Fostoria Finance Committee was told the city had $22,000,000 in bank balances at the end of May, with about $7,500,000 encumbered and $14,500,000 unencumbered available, the finance director said.
The finance director told the committee the unencumbered balance should be read with ongoing payroll obligations in mind: "Things that we still spend money on, but we do not issue purchase orders for, we have roughly $3,200,000 still in payroll for the remainder of this year, with benefits that we do not have POs," adding that those amounts reduce the funds effectively available.
Committee members heard that income-tax collections are running slightly ahead of expectations at about 45% of forecast through five months and that ambulance billing revenue is increasing. "We are generating, year to date, $250,000 in revenue" from ambulance charges, the finance director said, and reported the ambulance billing account currently holds nearly $1 million.
The finance director said the city will move a large percentage of the ambulance funds into a money market account rather than long-term investment because an ambulance purchase is on order. "I'm going to go ahead and move a large percentage of that to the money market account. I don't want to invest it long term because we do have an ambulance on order, and the initial order on that's, I'm going to say 450,000, but that's before it's completely dressed out in terms of equipped on the inside," the finance director said.
Committee members discussed the city's interest earnings. The finance director said year-to-date interest income in the general fund is $288,000 compared with $400,000 at the same point last year, and attributed the change to lower short-term rates: "Last year at this time, we were earning 5.6% on the short term money... This year, we're earning... 4.5%." The finance director added the city completed a $1 million longer-term investment with Red Tree in May based on the committee's prior recommendation.
The committee also heard about a recent payments change in the compliance and zoning office: the city began accepting credit-card payments and online contractor registrations. The finance director said the change increased contractor registration revenue from under $3,500 last year to $4,225 year to date and praised the department for making transactions easier.
Members raised the prevalence of cash transactions and alternative payment options. One committee member suggested offering Venmo and Cash App, noting the city handles substantial cash volumes in some offices. The finance director said the city currently absorbs card fees to avoid creating a payment barrier and reported credit-card fees run about 3% of transactions, dropping under 2% if American Express and Discover were excluded.
The meeting ended without formal action on these items; members agreed to review May and June minutes at a future meeting and adjourned by roll call vote.
