Board of Finance reports near-term revenue gains, proposes joint meeting changes that slightly lower mill-rate impact

Board of Finance staff briefed the joint meeting on current revenue and expenditure trends ahead of a scheduled joint budget adoption vote on May 18. The finance report said current tax collections are at about 99.5% of budget and highlighted stronger-than-expected conveyance taxes (about 160% of budget) and building-permit receipts (about 111%). Staff said investment income is projected at $2.6 million, exceeding the adopted estimate.

The Board of Finance adopted a proposed general fund expenditure budget of $257,980,635 (a $15.3 million increase, about 6.31% over the prior year). Staff outlined two proposed joint-meeting changes to be presented Monday: removing a $500,000 contingency previously set aside for the city’s share of 16 proposed firefighters, and using $750,000 from the workers’ compensation reserve (with $510,000 allocated to general city side and $240,000 to reduce the Board of Education share). Those adjustments would reduce the previously proposed mill-rate increase (the staff memo showed a prior 5.19% calculation) to an overall lower increase (staff cited a projected mill-rate near 35.3), representing roughly a 4.59% increase compared with the current rate.

Finance staff emphasized the year remains tight and that they will continue weekly monitoring of revenues and expenditures as fiscal year end approaches. The presentation included a breakdown of city, debt service and education components and noted $4,528,000 in supplemental education funding included in revenues as part of recent state budget actions.

Next steps: The joint meeting on Monday, May 18, will consider proposed revenue adoption and the finance adjustments described; council and finance members will vote then on the proposed final budget and mill-rate.