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Meridian reports fiscal-year 2025: revenues mostly below target, capital spending delayed
Summary
City finance staff reported FY2025 results showing the city collected about 92% of projected general-fund revenues, left major capital projects unspent for timing reasons, and will carry forward roughly $6 million in capital appropriations to 2026.
Meridian finance staff told the City Council on March 3 that the city collected about 92% of the general fund revenues it had budgeted for fiscal year 2025 and spent substantially less than planned on capital projects, leaving significant funds to carry forward into 2026.
"In total for all the revenues, we collected 92% of what we projected and we thought we would collect for fiscal year 2025," the presenter, Todd, said during the council work session. He told councilmembers that property taxes — about 50–60% of general fund revenue — missed the target by roughly 1.3% and that permit and development revenues were also lower than expected.
Todd said one-time factors boosted some receipts: stronger-than-expected investment income and a $1.5 million one-time payment from the rural fire district. Longer-timed federal or state programs also affected receipts, he said: "that one's because of the $7 million ARPA funding. And it's all about timing." The city will present more detail in upcoming quarterly updates.
On expenditures, personnel costs ran close to budget (about 95.7% of the personnel budget), while departments under-spent on operating and capital outlays. Todd said the city spent roughly 45.6% of budgeted capital, and department requests will carry $6 million into 2026 to finish delayed projects. He described the carryforward items as engines, parks work, and a workday (HRMS) project among others.
The enterprise fund fared differently: staff reported it collected 95.6% of expected revenues but reduced its fund balance by $27.8 million in 2025, reflecting carryforwards and large capital timing issues in wastewater and other enterprise projects. Todd summarized the fund balances: the general fund stands at about $99.9 million and the enterprise fund at about $84.9 million, though he said roughly $52 million of the enterprise balance is already committed to future projects.
Councilmembers asked for more granular breakout of the items that composed the revenue shortfall and discussed how one-time collections affect future budget baselines. Todd explained that the county or state resets the base for property-tax calculations and that a single-year extra collection does not automatically become ongoing revenue.
Next steps: staff will bring a public-notice schedule for the returned-payment fee (discussed earlier in the meeting), provide a more detailed breakdown of the revenue variances on request, and carry forward approved capital items into the 2026 budget process.
