City finance director: first‑quarter FY2026 revenues look ‘where we would expect’ but real‑estate tax timing skews numbers

Gary Filson, the city’s Director of Finance, presented the FY2026 first‑quarter financial report to the College Park City Council, saying the city’s revenues and expenditures generally aligned with expectations but emphasizing that timing differences—particularly property‑tax remittances—produce large swings in quarterly percentages.

“In a perfect world, all expenditures, we would be at 25%,” Filson said, describing the 25% benchmark for the first quarter. He explained routine timing issues and one‑time front‑loaded payments (for example, annual insurance and budgeted grants) that make quarterly comparisons imperfect.

Filson highlighted real‑estate property‑tax timing as an example. The September 30 report showed $2.9 million (about 21% of expected property‑tax revenue). Filson told the council that by Oct. 10 the city had received an additional $7.5 million, bringing property‑tax revenue to roughly 73% and lifting total revenues to an approximate 44% of the year’s expectations.

“It's timing differences…a perfect example is the real estate property tax,” Filson said, urging council members to view the quarterly snapshot in the context of known timing patterns.

Council members asked whether federal shutdowns or other unusual events could affect income‑tax receipts; Filson said at the time he did not expect the recent federal issues to affect local income‑tax remittances because those are typically remitted based on previously paid taxes. The presentation also noted the city earned a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.

Ending: Filson said there were no unexpected items in the quarter and invited questions; council members thanked him for the report and anticipated future quarterly updates.