Fostoria finance committee advances carryover-balance policy after positive revenue report

FOSTORIA — The Fostoria Finance Committee on Tuesday heard a finance director’s report showing stronger-than-expected revenue in several accounts and voted to forward a revised fund carryover balance policy to city council.

Finance Director Steve told the committee the city’s bank balance in September was about $22.7 million, with approximately $17.3 million available after commitments on open purchase orders. He said real-estate property tax receipts came in about $33,000 above forecast and that income-tax collections were at roughly 77% of estimated revenue through nine months, about a 5% increase from the prior year. "Real estate property taxes have all been received and they've come in about $33,000 more than we had forecasted," Steve said.

The report flagged ambulance charges as an area to watch: collections were at about 89% of forecast and up 15.8% from the prior year. Enterprise funds also showed gains. Steve said water revenue was "up significantly," reflecting rate increases in July and again in January; sewer revenue was up about 19% year to date compared with the prior year. Septic and leachate line…