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Woodland reports $3.2 million reserves increase for 2024; bonds and audit highlighted
Summary
Mayor Todd Dinehart reviewed the 2024 financial closeout, reporting reserves rose by about $3.2 million, described revenue variances tied to use taxes and explained the city's bond investments and an upcoming state-mandated audit.
WOODLAND, Wash. — At its May 20 meeting, the Woodland City Council received an in-depth financial report covering fiscal year 2024 that showed higher-than-expected reserves and detailed the city's recent bond purchases and audit schedule.
Mayor Todd Dinehart told the council the city's reserves increased by "over $3,000,000" in 2024 and later referred to a $3.2 million increase to a $17.9 million reserve balance. He said the year-end review shows a mix of favorable and unfavorable variances: overall revenues were "just about a million dollars favorable to budget," driven largely by higher use taxes, while some fees and project revenues lagged expectations.
Dinehart attributed the $755,000 favorable tax variance to use taxes tied to local retail activity, noting in the meeting that a former RV business (now Camping World) is a large sales-tax contributor. He also said certain planned project revenues and sewer receipts were lower than budgeted, with specific references in the presentation to a roughly $2.9 million unfavorable variance in sewer-related revenues tied to projects that did not proceed in 2024.
On the expenditure side, the mayor highlighted large variances tied to capital and one-time items. The civic center remodeling and related contract work drove an overrun in the civic center line; Dinehart said the earlier contract did not include materials and staff sought cost recovery but the budget reflected an overrun. He also noted savings in several areas, including legal services ($60,000 favorable) and accounting ($69,000 favorable) due to short-term use of outside services.
Dinehart explained the city invests reserves rather than leaving them in checking. He presented recent municipal bond purchases totaling about $12.1 million across multiple maturities and yields, with a range from about 0.33% on older bonds to roughly 4.85% on more recent purchases. "That is money that we as a city earn," he said, noting the strategy of staggering maturities so funds become available quarterly or semiannually.
Staff also reminded the council that the annual financial audit is mandated by the state and will begin in early July. The mayor and finance committee members encouraged public review and said a full audit report would follow the audit process.
No council vote was required on the presentation; council members thanked staff and the mayor for the detailed review and asked for forthcoming documents to be posted online for public access.
