Pampa first-quarter financial report: general fund on track; utilities draw on restricted balances

Theresa Daniels presented the city’s first-quarter financial dashboard for the 2024–25 budget year, reporting year-to-date figures through March 31 and explaining timing differences in revenue recognition.

On the general fund, Daniels reported about $10,000,000 in revenues year to date against an $18,200,000 annual budget — roughly 55% of budgeted revenue collected through March 31. She noted timing factors for specific line items: property tax collections were about 92% because those receipts concentrate in the first year’s months, while sales tax lags by two months and will appear later in the fiscal year. "We're at about 55% of revenue collections through March 31," Daniels said.

Expenditures in the general fund were at about $9,200,000 of a $19,000,000 annual budget (roughly 48–49% spent for the six months). Daniels said that if the city stood at March 31 year-to-date levels for the full year, the city would show a $722,000 surplus and a fund balance near 27.7 percent; current projections, however, anticipate using about $2,300,000 in replacement funds and closing the year with an estimated fund balance of about 29.6 percent. When asked about the policy target for reserves, the transcript records staff saying, "City policy is 20. But we management team prefer to have closer to 30 to 50% is what is the goal."

Enterprise funds showed different patterns. Water and wastewater year-to-date revenues were about $3,900,000 against $5,200,000 in expenditures; Daniels said the enterprise has $1,400,000 in restricted accounts available to cover timing differences. The solid-waste fund showed year-to-date revenues of $1,733,000 and expenditures of $889,000 (the presentation reported a small deficit figure in the transcript), and Daniels said summer months and billing cycles typically increase revenue for those funds.

Why it matters: The dashboard informs commissioners about timing-related variances and where the city is tracking relative to budget assumptions. Staff emphasized that many revenue lines are received with known lags (sales tax and utility billing) and that some draws on restricted accounts are expected as part of normal operations.

Follow-up: Daniels invited commissioners to ask for more detail if requested; she noted the city publishes monthly reconciliations and disbursement information after completion of each month's reconciliation.