Finance director reports FY25 pre-audit surplus and recommends capital transfers

Patricia Sunderland, East Greenwich’s director of finance, presented the town’s pre‑audited financials and a year‑to‑date budget snapshot to the council.

Sunderland said projected revenues for the year ending June 30 totaled $28,048,000 versus a $27,000,000 budget and described a favorable variance that produced a net budgetary surplus of $862,000 and a GAAP surplus of $362,000 after year‑end transfers. "Projected revenues are $28,048,000 over $27,000,000 budget," Sunderland said during her review. She attributed revenue strength to higher collection rates, meal-and-beverage tax receipts and rescue‑billing performance.

On the expenditure side, Sunderland flagged department variances driven by overtime and targeted transfers: police overtime and an associated $170,000 transfer to the police department building-improvement fund for HVAC replacement; fire overtime and transfers for capital equipment; and information-technology cost increases tied to software and telecommunications. She noted the town has used year‑end surpluses to fund capital projects under a six‑year plan and said the LED street‑light conversion has paid back faster than expected.

Councilors asked whether transfers to capital reserves were drawn from surplus or from operating budgets; Sunderland confirmed the transfers came from year‑end surplus funds and that capital projects are being added to fixed assets when executed. She also walked the council through projections for FY26 revenues and spending through September reports and discussed efforts to reduce reliance on fund balance while building PAYGO capital to meet long‑term infrastructure needs.

The presentation closed with a reminder that departmental spending trends, investment-income volatility, and public‑safety overtime will be priorities in upcoming management discussions as the town moves into the next fiscal‑year budget cycle.