Jackson City Council Finance Committee Meeting - July 15, 2026
Jackson City Council Finance Committee Meeting - July 15, 2026
The Finance Committee of the Jackson City Council met on July 15, 2026, at 10:04 AM. The meeting focused on the city's financial health and proposed budget adjustments for the remainder of the fiscal year. The chair clarified that the city is not operating at a deficit, but revenues are lower than anticipated. Key discussion items included cost-saving measures, banking updates, and contract reviews.
Discussion Items
- The chair outlined suggestions from the state auditor's office to manage expenses: limit overtime to essential services (police, fire, central employees), eliminate all professional service categories not yet utilized, hold capital outlays except for already-purchased items, freeze operating expenses (excluding payroll), freeze travel, and halt new equipment purchases. The chair noted these changes cannot be implemented until the budget is approved, so a test run will be conducted by removing all categories with zero expenditure for FY 2526 and reducing other professional categories to actual spending.
- The chair also recommended improving accounting practices by setting a monthly deadline (e.g., the 15th) to reconcile all bank statements and post all data in real time, except for tax payments from the county which lag until the 20th.
- The chair suggested that the FY 2627 budget should be based on the average of the past three years' actuals to create a more conservative and realistic budget. Departments were instructed not to spend based on paper money but only on available bank balances.
- Peter Taverson, CAO, thanked the committee for the direction and noted continued collaboration between the council and administration on the budget. He expressed confidence that the 2027 budget process would be more informed than the previous year.
- CFO Jillian Caldwell reported that approximately 90% of the city's funds, about $90 million, are now held at Chase (the new bank). A small amount remains at the old banks (Cadence, Huntington) to clear outstanding checks. She indicated she would prepare a report on interest earned on the new accounts.
- A council member requested an update on the contracts put in place by the previous administration, specifically citing the parking meter contract that had generated no funds. They suggested reviewing all contracts for compliance and potential renegotiation to increase revenue.
- The chair responded that legal will look into the contracts and that the CFO will prepare a report on spending versus budget for each department by the end of July.
Key Outcomes
- The chair directed the CFO to proceed with the outlined budget adjustments (removing zero-use categories, reducing professional services, etc.) and report back with numbers.
- The committee agreed to wait for the CFO's report before further budget discussions.
- The council member's request for a review of all existing contracts, particularly those from the previous administration, was acknowledged, and legal will examine them.
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was adjourned with the understanding that the CFO and legal would provide follow-up information.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. It's 1004, and I'd like to call to order the finance committee meeting for the City of Jackson City Council July 15th, 1004. Thank you. Okay. This morning's meeting is going to be a little different from probably what you're expecting. Um thank you for being here today. We're not operating with a deficit. Our budget on paper does show that we are not receiving as much revenue as we expected, and our expenditures are not above what we have received, and we do not foresee them being where it creates a deficit for the city in real value. What is suggested today for the city of Jackson is that we continue to do the things that we've been doing, working closely with our um Peter Tevison and with Julian and continue to do things differently. I talked to the state auditor's office, and the suggestions that were made are to not approve any overtime other than essential overtime, such as the police, fire department, or other central employees, take out all other professional um categories for every department other than what has been used and what we really expect or have to use in the next two months and two weeks, whole capital outlays until our next budget year, other than what we've already purchased. Uh limit or freeze operating expenses, not affecting payroll, freeze travel, no new equipment, and take out and if um I've been informed that we cannot really take these numbers out without changing our budget until it's approved. So do a test per CFO, take out 2526 only, all categories that have a zero in them. If they have not been used at this point, we're gonna assume that they won't be used unless it's something that you know you're gonna get a bill. Um eliminate the other professional down to what has actually been spent through today. Continue to reduce cellular phones. And they um said to improve our accounting, and we may already do this, I'm not sure. Make sure that we have a deadline each month, maybe the 15th of the month to reconcile all bank statements. So everything will be in real time. Make sure we enter and post all data as it comes in in real time, have everything for the month posted by the 15th. I know we don't get our tax payments from the county to the 20th. It'll always be a lag on that, but it'll be real time other than that one month. It has been suggested that we look back at three years numbers before we make any changes, or do our budget for 2627, and that way we'll have a real idea of what the real trends are for the city, and we can do a more conservative, exact, realistic budget. Although it may show that money on paper is not in um that we have money on paper, the departments we ask the departments not to spend based on paper money, to spend based on what is in the bank. We don't have it, so don't spend it. Don't go crazy these last two months and spend money that you know we don't have. Let's be good stewards, employees, and citizens and continue to work together and increase revenue and expense and decrease expenses and enjoy the city. And so we will not look at numbers today. We'll ask that our CFO go in and make those changes and tell us what it looks like and see how close we are to the actual number. And there is no penalty because we are not operating with a deficit. So we will do what is required by law, but we do not have a deficit in terms of our expenditures. May I respond, madam chair? Yes, please. Peter Taverson, CAO. Uh thank you for this uh direction that the CFO, uh, myself and the administration will incorporate and report back um to the continue. I say report back. I think we've been talking uh between the council and the administration seriously about the budget for uh several months. Uh also appreciate both your chairmanship and leadership as well as the comments of other council members as we start anticipating how to best craft the 2027 budget. I think all of us are much better educated than where we were last year at this time. And I think the continued collaboration um between the CFO and myself um and the council will get us where we need to be. So I just want to say thank you for this. Um and thank you for the continuing interaction with us. If no other questions, then this meeting is adjourned until we can get the numbers back from my CFO. Thank you. I got questions. I got comments. Can I make a comment? Go ahead. Okay. Um, I got a number of points, but the I'm I'd like to know an update on the status of money on deposit with JP Morgan, our new banker, and um where that stands as to our balance and how much interest for earning uh the best estimate can be uh made by um earning per month. Jillian Caldwell CFO.
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