Bureau reports healthy reserves across three funds, projects months-in-reserve to decline

The Bureau of Household Goods and Services told its advisory council on Aug. 26 that all three program funds remain solvent for fiscal 2021 but are projected to see reduced months in reserve in future budget years.

Heather Robinson, the budget analyst with the Department of Consumer Affairs, presented the fund-condition statements and said, “We are projecting revenues to come in at $3,234,000” for the electronic and appliance repair fund and projected expenditures of $2,692,000, leaving a fund balance of about $4.27 million and 11.3 months in reserve for 2021.

Robinson said the home furnishings and thermal insulation fund is projecting $4.93 million in revenue for 2021, with expenditures of $4.255 million and a 2021 fund balance of $5.567 million and 9.9 months in reserve. For the household movers fund, she reported 2021 revenues of $3.758 million, expenditures of about $2.026 million, and a fund balance of $4.898 million with 23.7 months in reserve. Robinson said the bureau included an assumed annual 3% appropriation growth and a GSI 4.55% salary increase in the 2022–23 projections.

The bureau’s projections show months in reserve falling for each fund across the budget horizon. For the electronic and appliance repair fund, months in reserve fall to 9.5 in 2021–22 and 7.7 in 2022–23. For home furnishings and thermal insulation, months in reserve fall to 7.6 in 2021–22 and 5.2 in 2022–23. The household movers fund projections showed months in reserve rising across the two-year window (29 and 32.3 in later years) because of forecasted revenue and workload assumptions.

Council members asked whether the bureau’s numbers reflect pandemic-era changes in industry volume. Steve Whitecamp, an advisory council member, asked whether the figures “take into consideration the, the huge increase in business that our industry has seen as a result of the pandemic?” Kara Munoz, a budget manager, replied that current-year figures reflect nearly-completed actuals through fiscal month 11 and that any additional resources the bureau chose to add would be accounted for in later fund-condition updates.

The bureau noted outstanding quarterly reports for household movers' revenue (April through June), which may affect final totals; the bureau will add late penalties when those reports are received. The advisory council had no formal action on the fund statements during the meeting.

Why it matters: Fund balances and months in reserve indicate whether programs can sustain operations without new appropriations. Council members flagged reserves as an opportunity to invest in priorities such as enforcement or industry outreach, but the bureau cautioned that projected salary increases and workload assumptions will reduce reserves over time.