Finance director reviews second-quarter FY25 results; overall spending near 50% of budget

Finance Director David Little presented the City of Bangor’s second-quarter financial results for fiscal year 2025 to the Finance Committee on March 3, reporting that overall spending and revenues are roughly at the expected midyear level.

Little said, “If everything was spent on a regular basis, we would be at roughly 50% of our budget through the December.” He reported the city’s total budget position through December at 50.65% of projected budget. On the revenue side Little said property taxes appear at 95% of the full budget because taxes are booked as revenue when committed in July and create receivables; he suggested the committee could be shown receivable detail in future reports to make midyear comparisons clearer.

Licenses and permits were slightly above expectations due largely to higher victualer and building permit activity. Fines, forfeits and penalties were at 89%, driven by vacant building fees that were not in the prior-year budget; Little said the vacant building fees contributed roughly $32,000 of additional revenue. Revenue from use of money — which includes park rentals, interest earnings and franchise fees — was slightly lower than expected due to timing of rental charges.

On the expense side, Little explained that several variances are timing-related: council expenses were lower through December because of fewer travel charges; central services shows a negative variance driven by timing of internal chargebacks; the motor pool is affected by single annual billings of vehicle charges; and insurance appears high until internal allocations are posted. Tax increment financing (TIF) and credit enhancement timing affects fund activity because some entities pay annual taxes in September. Pension debt service is paid once annually and therefore appears low until the payment is made later in the fiscal year.

Little also reported that staff provided what they believe to be a full draft of the audited financial statements to the auditors the morning of March 3 and are awaiting auditor review and any subsequent adjustments before final opinion. “We’re chugging along,” Little said, noting staff have submitted the draft and are awaiting the auditors’ timeline.

Committee members asked whether budget presentations could better reflect the book‑to‑cash timing of property tax recognition; Little said staff can add receivable detail and make other modifications to improve midyear comparability.

Why it matters: the midyear review helps councilors track budget performance, identify timing issues that can distort midyear comparisons and confirm whether revenues and expenditures are on pace for the fiscal year.