Finance presentation: Plano general fund revenues ahead of prior year; water fund trending lower in first half of fiscal year

City finance staff presented the comprehensive monthly financial report for March and said the information is prepared monthly and presented to council on a quarterly basis. The General Fund reported revenues of $271,400,000 for the first half of the fiscal year, which staff said represents 77.2% of the total annual budget. The Water and Sewer Fund reported $109,400,000 in revenues, or 45.7% of its total annual budget.

On expenditures, staff said the General Fund had $166,400,000 in expenditures (47.5% of budget) and the Water and Sewer Fund had $84,000,000 in expenditures (46.8% of the budget). Staff reported the General Fund’s net change in fund balance increased by $96,100,000 for the first half of the year; the Water and Sewer Fund balance decreased by $1,400,000.

Staff attributed higher General Fund revenue in part to property tax increases (about $10,000,000), sales tax increases ($5,100,000) and higher licenses and permit revenue ($1,300,000) compared with the prior first half. Personnel costs were lower by $718,000 compared with the prior year due to a hiring freeze earlier in the fiscal year, and materials and supplies were lower by about $1,500,000 because of cost-cutting measures.

Staff also reported unemployment at 3.7% in March (up from 3.2% in December) and showed that April sales tax collections were down 3.6% compared with the prior year; staff said audit adjustments (a $529,000 positive adjustment last year and a $35,000 positive adjustment this year) explain much of the apparent decline and noted that without those audit adjustments sales tax would be up 1.9%.

The finance presenter invited questions and described the city’s investment portfolio diversification and maturity laddering practices; no formal council action was taken on the report.