Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance director: online sales tax up about $2 million; replacement tax still down
Summary
Finance Director Rathburn reported that online-sales tax increases have boosted major tax receipts by about $2 million year to date, while replacement-tax revenues remain roughly $222,000 below projections.
Finance Director Rathburn delivered the monthly financial update at the Oct. 27 meeting, reporting that the city is five months into the fiscal year (about 42% completed).
Rathburn said the city's major tax revenues are "roughly up about $2,000,000 year to date" after legislative changes that increased collection of local home-rule sales taxes on online purchases. She said replacement tax receipts remain below projections, noting they were about $222,000 under year-to-date expectations and that the city continues to track state revenue projections from the Department of Revenue and the Illinois Municipal League.
Rathburn said the general fund's unassigned reserve balance is projected to end FY25 at approximately $41,000,000. She also reviewed major general-fund spending responsibilities and one-time allocations: the budget included an initial $3.3 million allocation for the "front and center" project and an amended $10.3 million for a downtown streetscape. Rathburn said, "between those two, that's a problem approximately a $60,000,000 use of reserves, during the current fiscal year," noting the impact of large capital allocations on reserves.
Rathburn said public-safety pensions and other seasonally variable expenditures influence year-to-date percentages and highlighted that online-sales taxation gains offset some declines in other categories. She closed by noting that full reports and the budget books are available online and invited council questions; no budget adoption or new appropriations occurred at the meeting.
