East Naples Bay members press for clearer budget reconciliation, ask finance to brief board in June

Board members pushed for clearer financial reconciliation as the dredging project nears completion, asking the city finance representative to attend the June meeting to explain outstanding balances and repayment options.

During the budget review staff said the Stantec authorization is $2,110,303 with bill-to-date of roughly $1.94 million, leaving an approximate remaining authorization of about $200,000; Quality Enterprises’ remaining contract balance shown on the invoice was listed at about $946,000. A board member summarized the district’s cash picture as roughly $1.2 million on hand with annual revenues about $600,000 to $700,000 and an outstanding city loan in the $3.2 million range.

Members debated whether to accelerate payback or take advantage of current positive arbitrage; one member said the district is collecting more in interest than it pays on the loan and suggested continuing the arbitrage rather than retiring the bond early. Others asked for a clear draw schedule or monthly reconciliation so the board can see retainage, what's paid and what's outstanding.

The board asked Stefan from the city finance department to attend the June meeting to present a reconciliation, the repayment schedule and options for the board to consider. Chair Gary Gregg and staff agreed to coordinate how the finance information is displayed so the board can make an informed recommendation to the city.

Next steps: Stantec and staff will finish project closeout items and present final invoices; the board will have a dedicated finance discussion at the June project recap meeting.