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Budget committee warned of structural revenue shortfall and rising overtime; CFO to amend sewer bond payment
Summary
City finance staff told the Budget Committee that revenues lag plan and that overtime is running high; members urged immediate expense controls and asked for follow‑up on a proposed fiscal amendment to cover a June bond interest payment.
City finance officials told the Budget Committee on May 6 that fiscal‑year 2025 revenues are running behind projections in several categories while year‑to‑date expenditures remain high, and they warned that continuing the current pace could leave a material shortfall at year end.
CFO Walter Person and Deputy CFO Andre Walker presented the city’s third‑quarter operating report and a pair of debt updates. The committee also considered a resolution to amend the sanitary sewage system budget to fund an interest payment due June 1 on recently issued revenue bonds; the committee voted to send that resolution to the council with a favorable recommendation for same‑night action.
Nut Graf: Finance leaders said local tax growth remains the principal revenue driver but that other categories (licenses, fines and certain fees) are underperforming. At the same time, overtime spending across the city continues at elevated levels — committee members estimated a likely FY25 overtime overrun in the low‑millions — and members urged hiring freezes, tighter controls and consideration of charging event organizers for public‑safety overtime.
The finance report showed year‑to‑date general‑fund revenue collection at about 81 percent of the annual budget with local taxes relatively strong (about 88 percent of expected) but with state taxes, fines and several permit and fee lines lagging. Walker summarized two debt actions: authorization of $150 million general‑obligation commercial paper (a liquidity facility) and closing of $65.7 million sanitary sewer revenue bonds; the latter transaction carries debt‑service obligations the department asked the committee to budget for immediately so a June interest payment can be made.
Committee discussion focused on two political and operational problems: whether certain revenue lines had been over‑estimated in the FY25 budget; and whether overtime — driven mostly by police and fire — can be controlled without reducing public safety. Council members discussed options including fee changes (event permitting) to recover overtime costs from private event promoters and a possible amnesty program to recover long‑outstanding court fines. Several members asked for breakdowns of overtime by department and for a plan to reduce nonessential spending in the final 60 days of the fiscal year.
Ending: The committee approved the sanitary‑sewer budget amendment for council action and asked finance staff to return with follow‑up detail on overtime, outstanding revenues and the Q3 capital‑project spending rate. The committee signaled that it will press for expense controls while the council completes FY26 budget hearings.
