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Finance director: July revenues boosted by delinquent collections and large permit for Carilion project
Summary
Director of Finance Margaret Lindsay told council July fiscal results showed unusually strong permit revenue from a Carilion Cancer Center building permit and delinquent personal property tax collections; staff cautioned the July numbers are volatile because of the fiscal-year timing and a software migration last year.
Margaret Lindsay, director of finance for the City of Roanoke, presented the city's monthly budget report for July during the Sept. 2 council meeting and highlighted several items that produced an unusually strong first-month picture for fiscal 2026.
Lindsay said personal-property-tax receipts recorded as $2,400,000 for the month and that amount is almost exclusively delinquent collections. She warned that July data fluctuate more than other months because July is the first month of the fiscal year and because the city migrated to new financial software on July 1, 2024; the July 2024 figures are not directly comparable and some entries were not yet posted in that prior-year migration.
The director said permits, fees and licenses totaled about $1,500,000 for the month, and that figure was driven by a single building permit and related plan-review fees for the new Carilion Cancer Center that topped about $1,300,000. She said sales-tax and food-and-beverage collections are subject to accrual adjustments and will be reconciled to prior-year collections as the fiscal year reporting catches up. On expenditures Lindsay noted general government spending appeared high in July because some insurance premiums and encumbrances post at the start of the year and because payroll entries for the prior fiscal year were not fully imported in the earlier system migration.
Lindsay concluded that the July numbers present a favorable start but cautioned they will change as remaining July/August entries are posted and as accrual adjustments are processed. Council accepted and filed the July monthly budget report without amendment.
