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Finance director: real-estate receipts slightly below budget; sales tax down about 2%
Summary
Assistant Finance Director Nancy Cooper and incoming Finance Director Melissa reported that Independence’s real-estate tax estimate is about $59,000 below the adopted budget, general sales tax receipts are roughly 2% below expectations and use-tax receipts remain strong following state changes.
Melissa (Finance Director) and Nancy Cooper, assistant finance director, presented the city’s monthly financial overview to the Finance Committee and highlighted several key items: county real-estate tax estimates, sales- and use-tax trends, the start of the Proposition PD sales tax collections and an ARPA transfer to the general fund.
Nancy Cooper told the committee that the county’s real-estate tax billing produced an estimate about $59,000 below what the city had budgeted for fiscal 2024–25. She said the county will issue updated assessed-value estimates in March and June, with the final figure coming before the council approves the tax levy in September.
Cooper said general retail sales-tax collections are about 2% below the budgeted level and that the trend to date represents an annual decline of roughly 1% for brick-and-mortar retail activity; she flagged the effect of rising prices and some local store closures. By contrast, Cooper said use-tax receipts — collections on remote or large out-of-city sellers — have increased substantially and remain a bright spot for the general fund, in part due to a statewide rolling-12 threshold for remote sellers.
Cooper also noted the city recorded a $1,035,143 transfer from American Rescue Plan Act funds to help cover police-salary increases in the general fund; the remainder of police raises will be funded by the newly collected Proposition PD sales tax, which began collection on Jan. 1 and should start appearing in February disbursements. Cooper reported an unassigned general-fund balance of about 52.07% as of Dec. 31.
Committee members asked how these results affect the city’s credit profile; staff said the audit and improving reserves help, but a full credit rating review would be needed before issuing general-obligation debt.
Ending: Finance staff will present a midyear financial update at the Feb. 10 study session and provide additional monthly statements to the committee; no formal action was taken.
