City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MARCH 8, 2017
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending January 31, 2017.
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ISSUE: Receipt of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending January 31, 2017.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receives the Monthly Financial Report (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND: The following discussion is a summary of the Monthly Financial Report for this period. Schedules comparing revenues and expenditures to date to the same period in
FY 2016 are attached.
At this time in FY 2017, the City’s revenue and expenditures are not noticeably different than the same time period last year. As of January 31, 2017, General Fund revenues totaled $380.8 million, an increase of $37.0 million or 10.8% above the revenues collected at the same time in
FY 2016. Through the first seven months of the fiscal year, approximately 55.3 percent of budgeted revenues have been collected. Revenues may not track consistently with the calendar since many revenue sources have dues dates that do not occur evenly through the year. Large revenue sources, such as real estate and personal property tax revenues are remitted twice per year and once per year, respectively.
It should be noted that FY 2016 included a bond refunding of $10.6 million in the first quarter that increased recorded revenue. This compares with a bond refunding in FY 2017 that occurred in November 2016 of $34.2 million, which saved approximately $2.4 million over the next 10 years. If the refunding revenue is excluded in both years, revenue of $346.7 million collected in the first seven months of FY 2017 compares to $333.2 million in the first seven months of
FY 2016. This increase is an increase of 4.1 percent compared to last year. General Property taxes are trending at 4.7 percent more than last year. This is consistent with the increase in the overall General Fund Operating Budget from FY 2016 to FY 2017, which increased from $649.2 million to $678.5 million, including a 5.4 percent increase in Real Property tax revenues.
As of January 31, 2017, General Fund expenditures totaled $389.7 million, an increase of
$32.9 million over the same time period for FY 2016. As noted above, there were bond refundings in both years that were significantly different. Without the refundings in the calculation, total expenditures in FY 2017 are $355.6 million compared to $346.1 million in
FY 2016, which reflects a 2.7 percent increase in spending to date. The primary difference relates to the timing of debt service payments in 2017 and cash capital transfers. January 2017 reflects an additional debt service payment compared to January 2016. The other significant difference relates to cash capital, which is budgeted at $24.3 million in 2017 and the entire transfer has occurred. This compares to the cash capital transfer of $16.0 million in 2016. Timing of the postings of transfers to component units varies from one year to the next. Excluding the bond refundings and these transfers, total expenditures and transfers represent an increase of 3.1 percent over the same time period in the prior fiscal year. Through Month 7 in fiscal year 2017, which reflects 58.3 percent of the fiscal year, the City has expended 51.7 percent of the budgeted amount for the fiscal year (excluding the refundings).
In February 2017 the City issued the Calendar Year 2017 Real Property Assessment Report. Attachment 3 provides highlights of that report related to the overall tax base.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 - Comparative Revenue Schedule for January 31, 2017
Attachment 2 - Comparative Expenditure Schedule for January 31, 2017
Attachment 3 - Economic Indicators - Real Property Assessments 2017
STAFF:
Laura Triggs, Deputy City Manager
Kendel Taylor, Director, Finance Department
Morgan Routt, Director, OMB