Lake Forest Park budget committee reviews September dashboard, flags traffic-safety revenue and capital reporting issues

Lake Forest Park Budget and Finance Committee members reviewed the city’s September budget dashboard at their Oct. 16 meeting, where staff described fund-by-fund revenue and expenditure levels and flagged areas for continued monitoring ahead of a mid-biennial budget amendment.

The presenter told the committee, “So we're gonna, go over the dashboard for September. Just remember that this is a 2 year 2 year budget that we're looking at,” and explained the report uses a 37.5% target to flag departments for watch. The dashboard showed the general fund revenue at about 36% of the biennial budget and the capital improvement fund — funded primarily by real estate excise tax (REET) 1 — at about 34%.

Why it matters: the dashboard directs staff and council attention to funds that need adjustment before the next formal budget action. The committee was told that some deviations result from timing (annual invoices, prepaying quarters) while others reflect one-time, urgent costs that will require budget amendments.

Key details from the presentation: - Facilities: staff said facilities spending approached roughly 50% of the biennial allocation after unplanned health-and-safety repairs earlier in the year; those costs are planned to be addressed in the mid-biennial amendment. - Planning: activity in planning is elevated because the department is spending grant funds, including a $500,000 climate element grant that increases apparent year-to-date spending. - Police: overtime and third-party passthroughs were higher than budgeted; staff said the city will expand both revenue and expenditure lines to reflect the change at mid-biennial review. - Traffic-safety camera/general traffic safety: camera-related revenue tracked at about 29% and the Traffic Safety Fund showed roughly 28%. Staff described the 28% as an early-month signal and recommended watching the fund through year-end before treating it as an area of concern: “I think even though this 1 is showing at 28%, I would definitely be very careful with having too much of a conversation of an area of concern until we can maybe even watch to see what it does through the end of this year,” the presenter said. - Transportation capital: the transportation capital fund showed about 14% because major reimbursement revenue for the roundabout and other projects has not started; staff emphasized the project is approved but not yet in construction, so reimbursements have not been realized.

Staff also clarified the role of the Transportation Benefit District Fund: “The Transportation Benefit District Fund is directly paying for the overlay,” the presenter told the committee, adding that the district receipts are transferred into the Transportation Capital Fund to pay for asphalt overlays and ADA ramps funded as capital projects. The presenter said the current Transportation Benefit District amount being used for overlay work is roughly $800,000.

Committee members raised presentation issues for staff to fix. Several members requested a clearer capital table showing both (a) the biennial amount reflected in the dashboard and (b) the total project budget and paid-to-date across fiscal years. One member asked for a third column showing total project value and cumulative paid-to-date; staff agreed to work with Director Dickinson to redesign the report so capital project totals are not misinterpreted as biennial-only budgets.

Next steps: staff said capital and operating variances will be addressed in a mid-biennial budget amendment, and the committee will watch traffic-safety camera revenue and other funds through the end of the calendar year before recommending further action to the full council.