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Record of Proceedings

Gahanna Finance Committee Meeting: FY 2025 Quarter 2 Financial Report (September 5, 2025)

City Council & CommissionsFriday, September 5, 2025
BodyGahanna, Ohio
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateFriday, September 5, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 13:42

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Ahead and call to order our finance committee.

0:03

And we have one item on the agenda.

0:07

And Joanne, floor is yours.

0:14

So same as previous quarters, we're just gonna go through the uh quarter two results for the financials, uh looking at general fund and all those funds that receive income tax dollars.

0:23

We're gonna just go through a brief summary of the capital improvement plan, what our income tax trends are looking like, our investments, and then what the conclusion is based on those results.

0:35

Uh so first starting off with general fund revenue.

0:38

Uh so looking at the the total, we're about 56% of what was planned, so right about where you'd want to be at the end of the second quarter, and we have about a 12% increase.

0:48

Uh increases are coming from income taxes, and then um investment income and other.

0:56

So the other is you might remember from quarter one.

0:59

That was our consortium uh shares from their dividends, and then also receiving uh real estate exemptions, um, receiving those property tax payments back.

1:11

That's really all I have for revenue, unless you have any questions.

1:18

Uh moving on to expenditures, we're about 38% of planned.

1:22

Um, when you do take encumbrances into account, we're at about 64%.

1:26

Uh so although not spent, a lot of those items are sitting on current purchase orders to be sent throughout the remainder of the year.

1:33

We're at about a 20% increase.

1:36

Uh that is related to the 825 expenses to date, and then also seeing that salaries and benefit increase, which was planned.

1:44

Uh, we had increases across all units, and then we had some additional uh hirings and filling some vacancies.

1:52

Any questions on expenditures?

1:57

Mr.

1:58

Chair.

1:59

Yes.

2:00

Yeah.

2:00

Please.

2:01

Um, Director Burry, I I had just noticed in the report that you had provided that there were a number of um encumbrances through the end of Q2.

2:16

And I think my question, and I know that you all have been doing a better, you know, a good job at like monitoring encumbrances to ensure that the funds are actually going to be expended through the year.

2:29

So I I wanted to just sort of check in it.

2:32

I there was um there were a couple um departments that had larger encumbrances that far outpaced what their actual expenditures have been so far.

2:43

Could you speak to that a little bit?

2:44

And do you anticipate that those uh encumbrances are going, we are going to see that work being performed or that those funds being expended by the end of Q3 or Q4?

2:56

Correct.

2:56

Um so basically, under our new procurement policy, a purchase order cannot be opened unless they adhere to the procurement policy, which basically means they have to have quotes in place if it's over 10,000 or it has to go through the bid process depending on the the price tag.

3:12

Um then we also have the professional services that require the RFP process.

3:16

So before a purchase order can be opened, they have to show that they've done the legwork, they've gotten the quotes, and it is anticipated that they're gonna spend those funds before the end of the year.

3:27

Okay.

3:34

Any other questions?

3:35

I think that covers it.

3:37

Okay, go ahead.

3:38

Thank you.

3:41

Uh so looking at what our impact is on fund balance through the end of the second quarter, uh, we're adding about 3.4 million to fund balance, uh brings us to a total of about 45.5 million, uh 11.6 million is sitting on those encumbrances.

3:58

Again, a big part of that is the 825 uh purchase order, and then we have 9.1 as our emergency reserve, leaving us with about 24.8 million in unreserved uh fund balance.

4:10

It's about 10 months worth uh compared to the two-month minimum uh by policy.

4:18

Anything on fund balance.

4:23

The next few slides are just gonna maybe um there you go.

4:31

Uh so these are gonna be first uh how the the three special revenue funds compare to budget.

4:36

Uh so seeing those similar results to the general fund, uh revenue right about where you'd expect to be and expenditures uh across all three about where you'd want to be.

4:47

Um public service uh still running a little behind on some of their projects, um, and again, seeing that compared to budget, they're still a little under on the salaries and benefits side too, as they're continuing to staff that area.

5:04

The next slide is how those three funds are comparing to actuals from last year.

5:10

Um just noting as I noted in quarter one, uh, you'll see the income tax uh compared to the previous year.

5:16

Looks a little wonky.

5:17

That was just a change in allocation based on what they had planned for the year.

5:21

Um, but seeing that increase for public safety uh mainly due to income tax, and then for parks and recreation, their charters for services is doing very well.

5:31

Uh seeing that their programming uh is exceeding expectations across all uh mainly in camps and pools, but all of their programming um is exceeding those planned amounts.

5:42

Uh looking at fund balance across all three, uh seeing that there is a slight dip except for parks and recreation, but those were all planned.

5:50

We planned on using some fund balance to get through the year.

5:54

Any questions on the special revenue funds.

6:03

So now looking at capital, uh we are about 35%.

6:08

Uh but again, a lot of these are multi-year projects or projects that you know we just kind of started as we went into the end of the first quarter going into the second quarter.

6:19

Uh so when you take encumbrances into account, we're about 92% of planned.

6:25

Uh seeing that revenue very similar to the general fund at about 54% where you'd expect to be.

6:31

Uh seeing that increase of 13% related to income tax, and then of course we have our investment income.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Public Engagement███████████████████24%
Public Health██████████12%
Procurement██████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Gahanna Finance Committee Meeting: FY 2025 Quarter 2 Financial Report

Note: The agenda and minutes list the meeting date as August 25, 2025 at 7:57 PM, but the instruction for this summary requires using September 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM UTC. This discrepancy is noted for accuracy.

The Finance Committee met to discuss the FY 2025 Quarter 2 Financial Report, presented by Director of Finance Joann Bury. The meeting lasted from 7:57 PM to 8:11 PM (per minutes), and covered General Fund performance, special revenue funds, capital projects, income tax trends, investments, and economic outlook.

Discussion Items

  • General Fund Revenue: Reached approximately 56% of planned amount, on target for Q2, with a roughly 12% increase driven by income taxes, investment income, and other items (including consortium dividend shares and real estate exemption reimbursements).
  • General Fund Expenditures: Totaled about 38% of planned spending (64% when including encumbrances). The 20% increase over prior year was attributed to 825 Tech Center Drive expenses and planned increases in salaries, benefits, and hiring.
  • Encumbrances: $11.6 million in encumbrances, largely related to 825 Tech Center Drive. Director Bury explained that under the new procurement policy, purchase orders require quotes or bids before opening, so departments anticipate spending those funds by year end. President Bowers asked about larger departmental encumbrances; Bury confirmed they reflect planned work.
  • Fund Balance: Added $3.4 million, bringing total to $45.5 million. Emergency reserve at $9.1 million; unreserved fund balance at $24.8 million (about 10 months of operating reserves vs. two-month minimum policy).
  • Special Revenue Funds: Revenues and expenditures tracked as expected. Public Service lagged on projects and salaries due to ongoing staffing. Parks and Recreation exceeded budgeted charges for services, especially camps and pools. Minor planned dips in fund balance across three funds except Parks and Recreation, which increased.
  • Capital Projects: Actual expenditures $25.5 million; encumbrances $45 million (92% of plan when combined). Majority from Capital Improvement Fund. Capital revenues at 54% of plan, with 13% income tax growth.
  • Income Tax Trends: 10% increase over 2024. Withholding aligned with local growth expectations. Individual and net profit tax collections increased; new large earners appeared. Director Bury will monitor if trends continue.
  • RITA Compliance: Vice President Weaver asked about letters sent to delinquent filers. Bury explained Gahanna is a mandatory filing community, but non-filers may not owe tax (e.g., retirement income only). She agreed to contact RITA for next report to determine if non-filing generated revenue. Weaver requested increased communication to residents. Councilmember McGregor asked how new residents and apartment tenants learn about filing requirements. Bury noted website info; Mayor Jadwin added that new resident packets are in development through realtors and property management companies.
  • Investments: STAR Ohio yielding about 4.25%; city portfolio just over 4%. No indication of rate reductions, but two possible by year end; investment income expected to meet projections.
  • Economic Outlook: Inflation declined to 2.7%. State biennium budget passed with veto of controversial property tax items. Property tax remains a hot topic. Local government funding expected to increase modestly (under $50,000). The Our Gahanna strategic plan reveal scheduled for Creekside the next day. Continued growth anticipated.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or resolutions were taken. The committee received and discussed the report.
  • Director Bury will follow up with RITA to quantify revenue from delinquent filers for the next quarterly report.
  • The administration will increase communication to residents about tax filing requirements through new resident packets and property managers.
  • The next Finance Committee meeting will occur following the Committee of the Whole on a future date.

Meeting Transcript

Ahead and call to order our finance committee. And we have one item on the agenda. And Joanne, floor is yours. So same as previous quarters, we're just gonna go through the uh quarter two results for the financials, uh looking at general fund and all those funds that receive income tax dollars. We're gonna just go through a brief summary of the capital improvement plan, what our income tax trends are looking like, our investments, and then what the conclusion is based on those results. Uh so first starting off with general fund revenue. Uh so looking at the the total, we're about 56% of what was planned, so right about where you'd want to be at the end of the second quarter, and we have about a 12% increase. Uh increases are coming from income taxes, and then um investment income and other. So the other is you might remember from quarter one. That was our consortium uh shares from their dividends, and then also receiving uh real estate exemptions, um, receiving those property tax payments back. That's really all I have for revenue, unless you have any questions. Uh moving on to expenditures, we're about 38% of planned. Um, when you do take encumbrances into account, we're at about 64%. Uh so although not spent, a lot of those items are sitting on current purchase orders to be sent throughout the remainder of the year. We're at about a 20% increase. Uh that is related to the 825 expenses to date, and then also seeing that salaries and benefit increase, which was planned. Uh, we had increases across all units, and then we had some additional uh hirings and filling some vacancies. Any questions on expenditures? Mr. Chair. Yes. Yeah. Please. Um, Director Burry, I I had just noticed in the report that you had provided that there were a number of um encumbrances through the end of Q2. And I think my question, and I know that you all have been doing a better, you know, a good job at like monitoring encumbrances to ensure that the funds are actually going to be expended through the year. So I I wanted to just sort of check in it. I there was um there were a couple um departments that had larger encumbrances that far outpaced what their actual expenditures have been so far. Could you speak to that a little bit? And do you anticipate that those uh encumbrances are going, we are going to see that work being performed or that those funds being expended by the end of Q3 or Q4? Correct. Um so basically, under our new procurement policy, a purchase order cannot be opened unless they adhere to the procurement policy, which basically means they have to have quotes in place if it's over 10,000 or it has to go through the bid process depending on the the price tag. Um then we also have the professional services that require the RFP process. So before a purchase order can be opened, they have to show that they've done the legwork, they've gotten the quotes, and it is anticipated that they're gonna spend those funds before the end of the year. Okay. Any other questions? I think that covers it. Okay, go ahead. Thank you. Uh so looking at what our impact is on fund balance through the end of the second quarter, uh, we're adding about 3.4 million to fund balance, uh brings us to a total of about 45.5 million, uh 11.6 million is sitting on those encumbrances. Again, a big part of that is the 825 uh purchase order, and then we have 9.1 as our emergency reserve, leaving us with about 24.8 million in unreserved uh fund balance. It's about 10 months worth uh compared to the two-month minimum uh by policy. Anything on fund balance. The next few slides are just gonna maybe um there you go. Uh so these are gonna be first uh how the the three special revenue funds compare to budget. Uh so seeing those similar results to the general fund, uh revenue right about where you'd expect to be and expenditures uh across all three about where you'd want to be. Um public service uh still running a little behind on some of their projects, um, and again, seeing that compared to budget, they're still a little under on the salaries and benefits side too, as they're continuing to staff that area. The next slide is how those three funds are comparing to actuals from last year. Um just noting as I noted in quarter one, uh, you'll see the income tax uh compared to the previous year. Looks a little wonky. That was just a change in allocation based on what they had planned for the year.

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