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Finance director reports 2024 surplus; city ends year with roughly $244,000 more revenue than expenditures
Summary
Finance Director Klaus Brown told the council that Medical Lake finished 2024 with a net positive result, driven by higher-than-expected sales tax, permit revenues and interest income; special funds showed mixed results.
Finance Director Klaus Brown presented the city’s 2024 year-end financial review to the council on Jan. 21, reporting that the city ended the year with more revenue than expenditures and noting several revenue categories that exceeded expectations.
Brown summarized the bottom line: "we brought in, it was $244,000 more than we spent," meaning the general fund ended 2024 with higher reserves than at the start of the year. He said general fund revenues exceeded budget expectations by about 3%, while general fund expenditures were at roughly 67% of budget.
Key revenue highlights Brown cited included: sales tax receipts that exceeded projections by roughly $163,000; building permits and plan-check fees outpacing budget by about $90,000; and interest income that outperformed expectations dramatically (the city budgeted $33,000 for interest but earned about $300,000 above that forecast). For the general fund, Brown said those items helped produce the year-end gain.
Brown also reviewed other funds: the water utility ended the year with a roughly $175,000 gain and revenues exceeded budget by about 14%, providing capacity for capital projects. The wastewater fund had higher-than-expected revenues but also investments in equipment and ended with a reported $97,000 deficit after capital spending; the solid waste fund ran a $63,000 deficit, reflecting contracted service costs. ARPA funds gained interest and had approximately $300,000 available after 2024 activity, Brown said.
Brown told council that some capital projects rolled over into 2025, including water main work and parks improvements, and that staff would prepare additional project-level reporting on completed items such as the Jefferson Water Main Project. Council members expressed appreciation for the finance team’s work and for the conservative budgeting that produced a positive result.
Ending: Brown said departments will continue to manage expenditures and that staff will bring any required budget amendments to council as projects proceed into 2025.
