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Spruce Pine staff report budget surplus and review three-year software grant
Summary
Town staff told the council that year-to-date revenues are above budget, producing a modest general-fund surplus, and described a three-year Southern Software grant that would provide financial modules free for three years before the town assumes ongoing licensing costs.
A finance presenter told the Spruce Pine Town Council on June 3 that the town's year-to-date revenues are outpacing budgeted expectations, leaving the general fund in a stronger position heading into the next fiscal year.
The presenter (identified in the record as the presenter, speaker 8) said the town budgeted about $2,800,000 in general-fund revenues but had collected roughly $3,160,000 as of the numbers pulled on June 3. "So we are looking very strongly for general fund balance," the presenter said, noting the town had used about $359,000 of planned appropriations and was roughly $600,000 ahead compared with initial assumptions. The presenter also said police and parks-and-recreation departments came in under budget while public works is over budget on the general-fund side.
Why it matters: A stronger-than-expected fund balance gives the council more flexibility on one-time expenses or to reduce the amount of fund balance used in the coming budget. The presenter cautioned, however, that the favorable position may not last: "This year doesn't look like it next year," the presenter said, pointing to inflation and other pressures.
Council discussion also covered enterprise funds, which the presenter said have positive balances but could tighten. The presenter reported enterprise fund revenues in the range of $3,460,000 against expenses of about $2,460,000, leaving roughly $1,000,000 of cushion, while also noting some accounting classifications (road vs. water/sewer) that staff plans to clean up.
On technology and budget impact, Mayra (speaker 7) described an amendment in the meeting packet: a three-year grant from Southern that would provide modules for requisitioning and other financial functions at no charge for three years. "They're gonna pay for 3 years out of it and then, you know, in a 3rd year or 4th year comes around, we'll... take over those yearly fees as part of our existing financial software fees with Southern," Mayra said. She and other staff said the agreement had been reviewed by the town attorney.
The presenters said the cloud-hosted software will reduce internal server burden and make remote access easier for staff traveling to conferences or working off-site. The packet language in the record notes that after the three-year period, the town would be responsible for ongoing licensing fees and that staff expects some trade-offs as servers are replaced or cleaned.
The council did not take a final vote on the software agreement during the recorded discussion; staff said the agreement and its costs beyond the three-year grant would be folded into future budget deliberations.
Next steps: The council will continue budget deliberations in future sessions; the software agreement will be considered in the packet process and subject to attorney review and final council action.
