City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MARCH 5, 2025
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: KENDEL TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending January 31, 2025.
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ISSUE: Receipt of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending January 31, 2025.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receives the Monthly Financial Report.
BACKGROUND: The following discussion is a summary of the Monthly Financial Report for this period. Detailed comparative schedules are attached.
As of January 31, 2025, General Fund revenues totaled $488.7 million, an increase of $26.1 million, or 5.6 percent, compared to the same period in FY 2024. There are no significant variations in receipts through the midpoint of the fiscal year that are due to anything but timing, billing, posting and accruals. It is important to note that several revenue categories lag by one or two months (e.g., the City has only received 5 months of Sales Tax revenue and 6 months of other categories, such as Transient Lodging and Restaurant Meals Tax Revenue).
Revenue may not track consistently with a monthly calendar since many revenue sources have due dates that do not occur evenly throughout the year. The largest revenue source, real estate tax, is remitted twice per year and aligns closely with real estate tax revenue from the same period in FY 2024. Real Estate tax revenue was due to the City on November 15. Through January 31, 2025, the City has collected $268.2 million or 49.2 percent of the budgeted amount. This is comparable to FY 2024 when the City had collected $259.5 million as of January 31, 2024, or 48.8 percent of the budgeted amount. Personal Property tax revenue, including business personal property, is strong in FY 2025. Through seven months of the fiscal year, $72.3 million reflects 95.6 percent of the budgeted amount compared to $65.8 million in FY 2024, which was 99.2 percent of the budgeted amount. Sales tax is nearly flat compared to last year. Despite the fact that inflation has slowed, prices remain high, impacting discretionary consumer spending in categories such as Local Sales and Use taxes, Transient Lodging and Admissions tax. Restaurant Meals tax is 6.3 percent higher than last year, and Transient Lodging tax revenue reflects a modest increase of 2.1 percent compared to FY 2024. Revenues are projected to total $923.3 million and no use of fund balance is projected to be used to support the operating budget.
As of January 31, 2025, General Fund expenditures totaled $647.7 million, an increase of $163.2 million, or 33.7 percent, compared to the same time period for FY 2024. Similar to the situation with revenues, no significant expenditure has occurred in the first seven months of Fiscal Year 2025 that is unbudgeted or unexpected. The most significant difference is the timing of payments and the posting of interfund transfers. In December 2023 half of the City’s transfers to various funds had been posted (cash capital, transfer to the Schools, Libraries and Housing). These are accounting entries and do not constitute any economic indication. As noted in the December Monthly Financial Report, interfund transfers have been posted for FY 2025, including recording the $273.0 million General Fund transfer to support the Schools. At this time last year, only $129.3 million had been recorded.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Comparative Statement of General Fund Revenues
Attachment 2: Comparative Statement of General Fund Expenditures
STAFF:
Kendel Taylor, Director, Finance Department
Morgan Routt, Director, Office and Management and Budget