03-29-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 8, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 23 Walsh agreed the Planning Commission did a good job. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT a. FOURTH QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT Maggie Ung presented the Fourth Quarter 2020 budget report. These numbers should be considered preliminary numbers and may change with the preparation for the 2020 audit. Looking at the overall revenue, the City collected 101.1% of the budgeted revenue compared to 107.8% in 2019. Tax revenue, which makes up 50% of the revenue budget, is at 99.1%. The next line item is License and Permits; the last few years this line item has exceeded budget and this year due to less development, COVID-19 pandemic, and the State-mandated shutdowns, it is only at 93.78% compared to 141.5% in 2019. The other two sources under budget are Charges for Service (98%) and Fines (54.3%). Charges for Service fell under budget as a result of decrease in police special service due to the COVID-19 social distancing and gathering guidelines, along with a decrease in Plan Check and Site Exam fee revenue. Fines is under budget due to not collecting as many court fines as anticipated; this correlates to a decrease in speeding and impaired driving due to COVID-19. The two line items that have done well in 2020 are Other Governmental and Golf Course revenue. Other Governmental revenue ended the year at 131.4%; the main variance is the CARES Act Funding offset with a reduction in the Toward Zero Deaths grant that the City is not administering in 2020. The Golf Course revenue is at 203.06% compared to 102.7% in 2019. COVID-19 played a large role in this revenue item as many indoor social gatherings were advised against and therefore there was an uptick in individuals taking to outdoor activities such as golfing. Building Permit revenue in 2020, the City only made 84.5% of the budget compared to 135% in 2019. On the Planned Check and Site Exam, it only made 84.6% of budget in 2020 compared to 172.8% in 2019. Ms. Ung gave an overview of 2020 revenue and moved on to expenditures. The biggest item over budget was the Special Projects Department, which is at 1,145% and was due to the City buying land for future projects that was not budgeted. Central Service and Public Works is also slightly over budget due to trying to keep the common area clean and maintaining social distancing due to COVID-19. The increase in expenditure in these line items is offset by the CARES Act grant. The golf course is also over budget due to course maintenance and more bank fees that offset with the revenue intake. COVID-19 has played a significant impact overall on the 2020 budget; fourth quarter is looking good with revenue exceeding budget and expenditures falling slightly under budget. This projects a positive variance of $224,000 for the General Fund. The top 5 vendors for Quarter 4 make up 36.8% of the vendors paid in Quarter 4 of 2020. The top 5 vendors for the year of 2020 make up 31% of the vendors paid for the whole year. She concluded her presentation and asked if there are any questions. Walsh wants to point out a couple of things. Overall, the City’s revenues were above what they were hoping by $170,000 and expenses were less than what they thought by $54,000 which gave a positive net of $224,000 over and above revenues which would be good for going towards next year for roads – which he knows is near and dear to Edwards’ heart. Also, regarding the top vendors, there was a $240,000 balance but that included paying for the land of $340,000 so really it is at $580,000. He noted they paid for the land out of the revenues of this year, as well. That was a huge positive and leads the City very well going into budget this summer. Even though their permanent revenue was down just a bit, they have kept stepping that up over the years as they have had such a divergent variance of what was happening versus what was getting done. To have it that close in a COVID year is a testament to the strength of the housing market and building, as long as the interest rates stay reasonable. Walsh said they budgeted well and should have some extra room this year to hopefully increase the roads a bit, bring their parks where