City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 3, 2025
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: KEVIN C. GREENLIEF, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending April 30, 2025.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Receipt of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending April 30, 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 April 30, 2025, General Fund revenues totaled $587.1 million, an increase of $33.2 million, or 6.0 percent, compared to the same period in FY 2024. There are no significant variations in receipts through ten months of the fiscal year that are due to anything but timing of 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 8 months of Sales Tax revenue and 9 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. Transient Lodging and Restaurant Meal tax revenues continue to reflect post pandemic recovery trends with modest average growth of 3.5%. The rate of growth for Sales Tax has flattened over the year to approximately 1.3%.
Business License taxes are due on March 1 each year. Through April 2025, the City has collected $41.3 million of Business License tax revenue, which represents 94.6 percent of the budgeted amount, an increase of 3.9% over the same period in FY 2024.
Recordation taxes have shown a strong surge over the prior year, representing an uptick in sales and strong price levels. Recordation is up year-to-date by $1.6 million. Consumer Utility Tax revenue through April 30, 2025 also exceeds the same period in FY 2024, by $1.2 million.
In FY 2025 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 April 30, 2025, the City has collected $271 million or 49.7 percent of the budgeted amount. This is comparable to FY 2024 when the City had collected $260.8 million as of April 30, 2024, or 49.0 percent of the budgeted amount. The second Real Estate tax due date in FY 2025 is June 16th. Personal Property tax revenue, including business personal property, is trending ahead of FY 2024. Through ten months of the fiscal year, $74.7 million reflects 98.8% percent of the budgeted amount compared to $68.2 million in FY 2024.
As of April 30, 2025, General Fund expenditures totaled $746.5 million, a difference of $45.7 million, or 6.5% percent more than the same time period for FY 2024. Similar to the situation with revenues, no significant expenditure has occurred in the first ten months of Fiscal Year 2025 that is unbudgeted or unexpected. The most significant difference is the timing of payments (Transfers to DASH and the Libraries) and proportional increases in spending due to budget increases and decreases (cash capital and debt service). In addition, in FY 2024, several departments had large appropriations of General Funds added to their budget in the fall as ARPA funds were shifted. That one-time event creates a distorted comparison of percentage of budget expended between the two years. City Council passed a Supplemental Appropriation Ordinance in April to make transfers between departments to provide sufficient resources for departments whose vacancy savings budget reduction was greater than their actual turnover experience or where personnel costs related to new hires, workers compensation or leave payouts for retiring employees cannot be absorbed within their current budget. City Council will consider the final Supplemental Appropriation Ordinance for FY 2025 in June.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Comparative Statement of General Fund Revenues
Attachment 2: Comparative Statement of General Fund Expenditures
STAFF:
Morgan Routt, Director, Office and Management and Budget
Laura Gates, Deputy Director, Finance Department