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Decatur staff presents FY2025 mid‑year budget review; staff highlights revenue gains and targeted mid‑year requests
Summary
City finance staff told the Decatur City Council during a mid‑year review that FY2025 general fund revenues were tracking higher than FY2024 while several revenue lines were down, and staff presented a list of proposed mid‑year adjustments and capital priorities.
City finance staff presented the FY2025 mid‑year budget review to the Decatur City Council and outlined revenue performance, areas of decline and proposed mid‑year adjustments and capital priorities.
The presenter summarized overall results for FY2024 and current tracking for FY2025. “What should you know about City of Decatur finances at mid year?” the presenter asked the council before listing figures: the General Fund closed FY2024 with $96,700,000 in revenues; current FY2025 general fund revenues were tracking about 5.58% higher than FY2024. The presenter noted that roughly 46% of the general fund is derived from sales and use tax.
Staff highlighted revenue increases in several categories and named specific declines. General fund gas tax receipts were down about 39% year‑over‑year; staff said this reflected a one‑time back‑tax collection in FY2024 (more than $200,000) that did not recur in FY2025. Outdoor‑recreation revenues were also softer: camping fees were down about 17% and golf green fees about 16%; staff attributed those drops in part to higher rainfall (reported as 36.91 inches year to date) and changes in consumer spending patterns.
The mid‑year materials included proposed adjustments and a prioritized P2 list of capital/non‑budgetary requests reviewed by the finance committee (mayor, Mr. Ladner, Mr. McMasters and the presenting staff). Notable items staff flagged included a $500,000 local match tied to a $1,000,000 appropriation from Senator Arthur Orr for trail upgrades at Wheeler Wildlife Refuge; $100,000 for downtown farmer’s market upgrades; and $1,500,000 for street resurfacing. Staff said the street resurfacing allocation would be determined by the city engineer using software that ranks road condition and usage.
Council members asked for additional details on sales and use tax trends and the software rollout for planning and permitting systems. Staff said work was under way to integrate permitting and revenue systems (CityView) and that a late‑year go‑live remained the target.
The items were presented to the council for consideration at the mid‑year review; staff invited council members to propose additions to the P2 list before next week’s meeting. The budget adjustment resolution was introduced on the agenda for council action.
