City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 8, 2020
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 November 30, 2019.
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ISSUE: Receipt of the Monthly Financial Report for the Period Ending November 30, 2019.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive 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 2019 are attached.
At this time in FY 2020, the City’s revenue and expenditures are not noticeably different than the same time period last year. As of November 30, 2019, General Fund revenues totaled $349.9 million, an increase of $16.6 million or 5.0% above revenues collected at the same time in
FY 2019. Through the first five months of the year, approximately 45.1 percent of budgeted revenues have been collected. Revenues may not track consistently with the calendar since many revenue sources have due 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. Personal property taxes were due on October 5th. Personal Property tax revenue is $50.3 million or 10.8 percent higher than collections for the same period last year. With the elimination of the decal, the motor vehicle license tax was eliminated. The personal property tax rate was increased to offset this fee elimination. If both personal property and motor vehicle license taxes are combined for comparison, at this point in FY 2020, 88.4 percent of the budgeted amount has been collected and in FY 2019, 88.5 percent of the combined budgeted amount for personal property and motor vehicle license tax revenue had been collected. The second half of the calendar year real estate tax were due on November 15th. Revenue from real property taxes is consistent with the budgeted amount in FY 2020 and the amount collected in FY 2019 through November. Business License taxes are due on March 1.
In other local taxes, local sales tax is trending 11.1 percent over collections in FY 2019. Sales tax revenue is remitted by the State, two months after it is collected. Through 5 months of the fiscal year, the City has received 3 months of local sales tax revenue. Recordation tax is also comparing favorably to FY 2019. Through November 2019, collections reflect 40 percent of the budgeted amount and exceed collections for the same period in FY 2019 by 21.6 percent. Variances in intergovernmental revenue from both the federal government and the Commonwealth are all related to the timing of payments.
As of November 30, 2019, General Fund expenditures totaled $255.4 million, a decrease of $3.4 million over the same time period for FY 2019. Similar to the situation with revenues, no significant expenditure has occurred in the five months of Fiscal Year 2020 that is unbudgeted or unexpected. The most significant difference is the timing and source of payments. In FY 2019, the contribution to WMATA included a greater portion of General Fund resources than the contribution budgeted for FY 2020. The variance in the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services is largely attributable to the shift of the residential curbside refuse collection program from the General Fund (in FY 2019) to a self-supported fund in FY 2020. This is offset by the transfer of the Fleet Services Division from General Services to TES in
FY 2020. The variance in the Department of Information and Technology Services relates to enterprise wide software license. Costs increased with the new three-year contract that took effect for this fiscal year. The costs for the year have been paid in full.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Comparative Expenditure Schedule for November 30, 2019
Attachment 2: Comparative Revenue Schedule for November 30, 2019
Attachment 3: Fundamentals of the City’s 10 Largest Tax Revenue Sources
STAFF:
Laura Triggs, Deputy City Manager
Kendel Taylor, Director, Finance Department
Morgan Routt, Director, OMB