TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas J. Hewett, City Manger
FROM: Jeffrey A. Yates, Assistant City Manager
Jody Picarella, Chief Financial Officer
Kimberly Leonard, Budget and Evaluation Director
DATE: April 8, 2024
RE:
Title
FY 2024 Financial Update
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal IV: Financially Sound City Providing Exemplary City Services
Executive Summary:
We are providing three reports for the City Council’s review. They are as follows:
Budget Report - The budget report provides an update on the City’s revenues and expenditures through the reporting period, through December 31, 2023. This report provides actual revenues and expenditures for the same periods in the three prior years. These comparative periods help evaluate trends and drivers.
Staffing Report - The staffing report provides updated vacancies by department both in raw numbers and in percentage. The report includes a breakout of the sworn positions in both police and fire. In addition, the working estimate for the vacancy is included. It is important to note that the working vacancy estimate may vary slightly at the end of the year and does not include projected vacancy savings for future pay periods.
General Fund Balance Analysis - In this report, the fund balance information is based on the financial statements provided to the auditors for their review. We will refine this worksheet to include additional information and possibly other funds as we progress.
This information will evolve and be refined over time based on the feedback and additional discussions. We look forward to partnering with the City Council to provide meaningful, transparent financial information.
Background:
Issues/Analysis:
When analyzed, the reports provide a landscape where several takeaways emerge providing a high-level picture of the City’s financial condition and health. The included reports offer three key takeaways:
The City’s financial health is strong. The fund balance analysis indicates that the City maintains a fund balance above its policy goal. The policy goal is an unassigned fund balance of $25.2 million, and the unaudited, unassigned fund balance is $28.2 million.
The General Fund is performing as anticipated. The revenues and expenditures are in alignment with historical trends. Revenues, particularly Ad Valorem and Intergovernmental (sales taxes), are behaving as anticipated. The three expenditure types that most reflect operations-personnel services, operating expenditures and contract services-are aligned with historical trends.
Vacancies continue to be both a positive and a risk. The positive trend is that, given our experience through February (18 pay periods), we estimate a savings of at least $12 million (excluding health insurance). With the remaining eight pay periods, we estimate achieving savings of about $17 million from vacancies. This represents the majority of our $19.8 million efficiency goal.
The risk related to vacancies comes from a lack of staffing. As of April 1, there were 218 (12.4%) vacant positions in the City. This includes 67 (15.6%) sworn Police Officers and 16 (4.7%) Firefighters. In addition, the City’s 911 Communications group included 16 (25.4%) vacant positions. These three groups comprise 45% of the City’s vacant positions.
Budget Impact:
Options:
Recommended Action:
Attachments:
Budget Report.04042024
Fund Balance Report.04042024
Staffing Report.04042024