FINANCES ARE STRONG

Finance Director gives council financial overview

On February 17, 2021 City Finance Director Amy Fealko gave the Salmon City Council an overview of second quarter city finances four months into this fiscal year.

The city is holding $1,738,659 in Reserve and has $439,532 in the General Fund. The Cemetery Fund has close to $90,000, the Water Fund contains $897,880 and the Sewer Fund has $1,821,827. There is $272,157 in the Local Option Tax (LOT) Fund and $493,799 in Streets and Alleys for a total cash balance of $5,753,320.

If awarded, the $450,000 for the Block Grant matching funds will be taken from the Water Fund.

With 34 percent of the fiscal year complete the General Fund has received 58 percent of its expected revenue and expenditures are at 32 percent. She said that overall, the revenues are performing as projected based on payment schedules and past trends

All city departments are on target with their budget projections and she said the city did receive the $149,000 from the governor’s tax relief program.

In answer to why there is so much LOT money in reserve Fealko said it is because the account contains all of last year when monies were allocated but events didn’t take place plus the six months from this year so the total is carry-over from March 2020 to March of 2021. Those totals will be changing with the upcoming funding cycle.

Property Tax collection is one the city’s major revenue sources. The first payment from 2020-2021 taxes was received in December of 2020 and another significant tax payment arrived in January of this year bringing the rate of collection to 70 percent. The first Revenue Sharing and Liquor Revenue payments were also received this month. Fealko remains confident that revenues will follow budgeted amounts however; those amounts will be monitored closely. Under Expenditures all operating costs are on budget for this fiscal year.

The second quarter break down of all city revenues and expenses are available for review at Main Street’s City Hall and on the city’s web site at www.cityofsalmon.com