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Finance staff and Davenport brief council on debt, ratings and May financials; city projects positive year‑end balance
Summary
Davenport & Company and city finance staff briefed council on outstanding debt, Moody’s scorecard history and May financials. Key figures included general fund debt of about $23.8M, school debt of about $8.8M, and a projected year‑end cash balance near $21.6M; staff said ACFRs for FY22–24 are scheduled for completion in 2025–2026.
City finance staff and the city’s financial adviser gave a joint briefing Wednesday on bond ratings, outstanding debt and May financial results that staff said position Hopewell to improve audit timeliness and fiscal reporting.
Jimmy Sanderson of Davenport & Company walked council through the city’s outstanding obligations, noting the difference between tax‑supported debt and school debt and pointing to an 86 percent 10‑year payout ratio as a positive signal to rating agencies. Sanderson said past delays in completing timely audits had led rating agencies to withdraw prior ratings and urged continued adherence to ACFR timelines.
Stacy Jordan, the finance director, presented May financials showing citywide revenues up roughly $1.2 million year‑over‑year and expenses up about $900,000; she said the city is projecting about $5.9 million in revenues over expenses for the fiscal year and estimated a bank balance of approximately $21.6 million at fiscal‑year end. Jordan also reported that the city had completed FY20–21 and was on track to complete FY22 by 06/30/2025 and FY23 and FY24 later in 2025 and 2026.
Councilors asked follow‑up questions about specific line items, outstanding invoices that had been cleared, the status of a new compressor purchase for HRW (about $500,000 noted in discussion), and the integration of school payroll data into city financial systems to improve the accuracy of school expense reporting. Jordan said schools’ unrecorded operational items are budgeted and that the city is working to integrate school accounting into the same Munis system.
No action was required; the presentation was informational and staff said they would return with scheduled audit completions and updated cash‑flow projections.
