Assistant city manager: Edwardsville———————————fourth-quarter finances show revenue above budget, expenditures near projections

Doug Gerber, the assistant city manager, presented the city's 4th-quarter 2025 financial report and described it as provisional pending year-end adjustments and audit work.

Gerber said the general fund's actual revenue exceeded budget by about $350,000. "Our actual revenue exceeded our budget for revenue by, about $350,000," he said. He told the council that expenditures were close to budgeted levels and that at the time of the report total spending was about $8.39 million against an $8.4 million budget, a near-99.9% outcome. Gerber emphasized these numbers are accurate but not final because of typical year-end adjustments.

Council members asked for more granular, line-item visibility in future budget materials to see which purchases (for example, vehicles or large equipment) are included under broader line items. One member asked for itemized tracking so the council could identify that a particular dollar amount was associated with a truck purchase rather than being buried in a larger departmental total.

Gerber said departmental budgets were generally on target and explained that sales tax and use tax patterns can shift timing of receipts; he also noted increased use-tax and franchise-fee receipts and higher interest earnings as reasons for the revenue surplus. Staff said they have reached out to auditors and will schedule document collection for the audit work, and that the 2027 budget process will begin soon with the goal of giving the council clearer, earlier detail when possible.