City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 7, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER/s/
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Consideration of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending March 31, 2014.
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ISSUE: Receipt of the City's Monthly Financial Report for the period ending March 31, 2014.
DISCUSSION: That City Council received the Monthly Financial Report for the period ending March 31, 2014.
REVENUE HIGHLIGHTS:
Year-to-Date Revenues: The City's revenues continue to fall short of budgeted levels. As of March 31, 2014, actual General Fund revenues totaled $390.5 million, which is approximately $11.9 million or 3.1 percent more than the report for the same period last year, but less than the budgeted increase. The increase is due to higher real property tax collections from real estate tax rate increases ($11.0 million) and personal property tax rate increases ($3.7 million) and a $2.8 million decline in all other sources of revenue.
The City has set aside $1 million in fund balance to compensate for potential short-term revenue reductions related to sequestration. At this point in the fiscal year, we are likely to utilize the fund balance set aside. Staff is closely monitoring vacancies and other expenditures to keep expenditure levels below budgeted amounts. Current revenue estimates were taken into consideration when building the revenue estimates for the FY 2015 budget.
Below is additional detail for revenues that are showing variance compared to last year's collections:
* Consumer Utility Taxes: Year-to-date Consumer Utility Tax collections through March decreased by approximately 8.5 percent or $600,000 compared to last year. While normally the utility companies pay their tax liability in the month after the end of the billing month, utility companies have 45 day...
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