Riley County treasurer reports healthy fund balances; county monitoring Senate Bill 119 fiscal negotiations

Riley County Treasurer Shiloh Hager presented the county's monthly revenue report on March 13, reporting a general fund balance of $14,329,450 and an ARPA fund balance of $7,027,017. Hager said year-to-date general fund revenue through February was $780,626 for that month and that year-to-date interest posted to the general fund amounted to roughly $390,009 (about 18% of the year's interest budget). She reported that sales tax deposited to the general fund for February was about $201,009 and that year-to-date sales tax collections are roughly 2% above the amended budget.

Hager briefed the commission on Senate Bill 119, which addresses a county-level revenue issue: a legislative fiscal note originally estimated a $16 million hit to the state budget for the proposal. State budget negotiators were reported to be working on amendments and exploring lowering that fiscal impact to $12 million. Hager said that could produce some relief but would not make all counties whole; she and county staff continue to work with state counterparts and county coalitions to monitor the bill and its fiscal-note revisions.

Hager also reviewed other fund balances and noted continued monitoring of registration and heavy commercial transactions; she said motor vehicle transactions were slightly down year-over-year but that interest rates on county cash were favorable at 4.43% for the checking account.