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Midyear report: revenues steady, police payroll drives general fund overages
Summary
The city’s midyear finance presentation showed sales‑tax and utility revenues roughly on target while the police department’s return to full staffing pushed health insurance, retirement and overtime costs above budget; staff will supply grant offsets and written recommendations to reconcile overages.
Steve, the city’s finance presenter identified during the meeting, told the ordinance committee that sales‑tax revenues were “in line” with expectations and that water and sewer receipts were about 1% above budget and prior year levels. He said electric sales were about 8% below budget year‑to‑date but noted hotter months later in the fiscal year would change that picture and year‑to‑year electric sales were up roughly 1%.
Steve reported general‑fund payroll through June at $2.58 million against a $2.59 million budget — roughly $10,000 ahead of budget — and said the city overall was within a narrow margin of budgeted revenue and spending. He said department variances are offsetting: the fire department showed a roughly $40,000 positive variance while streets and parks underspent by about $80,000, helping to offset police overages.
The largest pressure came from the police department. Steve said police payroll and related costs were about $250,000–$260,000 over budget, driven in part by health‑insurance increases (about $88,000 over budget), retirement costs (about $44,000 over budget) and insurance liability. He told the committee that the police department had recently moved toward full staffing, which increased personnel costs.
Utility‑fund payroll was reported at about $920,000 on a budget of roughly $915,000 — about $5,000 (roughly one‑half of 1 percent) over budget — and the presenter said the utility fund remained effectively on budget for the year. Overall, the presenter summarized the city as approximately 4.6 percent over budget in the general fund through June and said staff would monitor spending into the third quarter and pursue budget amendments if needed.
A committee member thanked Steve for the report and asked about police overtime. Committee members and the chief said some overtime is covered by grants and that staff would provide an accounting of grant offsets and a written proposal within two weeks to address department overages. The meeting closed the item with a commitment that staff would return with documentation and any proposed budget adjustments.
Next steps: staff will provide a grant accounting and written recommendations within two weeks; the committee will monitor third‑quarter results and consider budget amendments if needed.
