Finance director reports county cash balances, CIP status and rising sales tax receipts

Tammy Robinson, Geary County finance director, delivered the monthly financial update and walked commissioners through cash reconciliations, capital improvement project (CIP) status and revenue variances.

Robinson reviewed CIC cash and GL balances presented in the packet and confirmed the treasurer's report matched the figures read aloud. She said the building cash flow, after accounting for a $12,000 charge for courthouse boiler-room doors, left $466,005.93 available for other projects. In CIP, Robinson reported interest income and motor-vehicle-tax delinquencies; she said ending unencumbered CIP cash was "almost 4,200,000" with about $802,000 in remaining approved projects and, after reserves, "just under 2,500,000" available.

On sales tax, Robinson said year-to-date collections were 15.33% above budget and that the county had collected $167,004.63 more in the county general sales tax and $78,006.72 more in the hospital-dedicated tax compared with last year. Robinson noted the hospital-dedicated revenue is being used to pay a 2016 hospital bond; she clarified the bond matures in 2040 and is callable beginning in 2032 and said she is consulting the county's financial adviser, Greg Barenberg, about defeasance options given jail-related financial planning.

Robinson also reviewed year-to-date expenditure activity and departmental GLs, noting that the library and economic development were pacing above the 83.33% year-to-date marker but that she expected those to normalize by year-end; overall general-fund pacing was reported at approximately 77.61% into the year.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about specific line items and asked Robinson to provide additional details if requested. Robinson said she would follow up on any specific questions and provide information not available at the meeting.

The board took no formal votes on CIP spending or debt management at this meeting; Robinson said she would return with any defeasance analysis or recommendations once she had run numbers with the county's adviser.