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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Powell Finance Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025

City Council & Boards — Tuesday, September 9, 2025

BodyPowell, Ohio

SessionCity Council & Boards

DateTuesday, September 9, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:36:56

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Go ahead.

0:02

All right.

0:04

I will call to meeting or call to order the finance committee meeting.

0:13

I'll go ahead.

0:14

It looks like we are missing Jennifer.

0:18

She caught that I she did.

0:21

She did.

0:22

Um with that.

0:25

Um did everyone have a chance to review the minutes?

0:30

Any additions, corrections?

0:35

And I have a motion to adopt.

0:37

Move to adopt.

0:40

A second.

0:42

All those in favor say aye.

0:45

Aye.

0:46

With that.

0:47

Then it's our approved.

0:48

All right.

0:49

Today's bit business.

0:51

Um the monthly finance report.

0:56

Okay.

0:58

I will make this pretty quick.

1:01

Um, nothing concerning really for the month of August.

1:05

Um, year to date through August, total operating revenue was 15.9 million.

1:11

That was 75.5% of the budget, which is above our 66.6% target.

1:19

Um, all of our revenues are strong.

1:21

Um, as far as the year, they're all above the target budget.

1:25

Operating expenditures are low, they're below budget 53.9%.

1:32

Um, a lot of this is timing for in the year so far.

1:37

Personnel expenses are on track.

1:39

We've got 62.8.

1:41

Um, but our operating expenses and capital equipment, those are fairly below the budget.

1:47

So we'll try to, you know, kind of dig in with staff and figure out if there's large purchases that are coming, kind of what's the status of those.

1:55

So we will be into that.

1:57

Um, our total expenditures for the year to date, 14.9 million, and then our general fund balance is just shot a little over 24 million there at the bottom.

2:13

Any questions on this first executive report?

2:19

Okay, page two.

2:21

We um all funds cash balance 50 million, 15,652 dollars.

2:29

General fund cash balance is the 24 million nine hundred and thirty-eight dollars.

2:38

Cash flow analysis uh general fund revenue year to date 15.9 million, general fund expenditures 14.9 million, giving us year-to-date uh positive net cash flow of 996,000 dollars approximately, and our year-to-date revenue as of August increased by 5.3 percent compared to year-to-date August of last year.

3:07

Questions on that okay.

3:13

Next page, nothing concerning there, just kind of shows your cash pending cash balance position for all of your funds for general fund expense expenditures, year to date 14.9 million, and then I will just call your attention to a couple notable items for the month.

3:37

Um, software maintenance and then software subscriptions.

3:41

We have a couple of our um granicus um items that I know were previously discussed for budgeting and appropriations, everything else for the month was uh status quo.

3:55

Questions on expenses next page general fund revenues 15.9 million notable revenue items at the bottom.

4:09

Um, we did get our semi-annual real estate tax receipts in August.

4:16

That was just over 472,000.

4:19

Our total year-to-date real estate taxes for 25, 997,405 dollars.

4:28

That is a 3.3 percent increase from 2024 real estate tax receipts, and then interest earnings strong again for the month in the general fund 117,833 questions on revenues.

4:52

Next page, tax receipts, year-to-date tax receipts totaled 12.7 million, which was a favorable variance of 3.5 percent compared to 2024.

5:07

Our current year tax receipts are 73.6 percent of the budget, which is above our target of 66.6 percent.

5:20

I will call your attention to the orange box kind of in the middle on the right.

5:25

There was a large decrease month over month in the net profit collections.

5:30

You can see net profit collections went down by 125 percent.

5:36

Um I did look that up.

5:38

There was one net profit account that got a large refund, it was 62,000 because they overpaid their estimates in 2022.

5:51

So Rita reviewed that account issued or refund that hit in August.

5:56

So that is the large month over month change there, but still net profit year to date is up 20% compared to last year, 24.

6:12

Sam, I have a question on that refund.

6:13

Do you get notice of those prior to those the rebund?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Planning And Zoning█████████████████████████████29%

Economic Development██████████████████18%

Fee Schedule Review████████████12%

Fee Schedules█████████9%

Budget Review████████8%

Real Estate Development██████6%

Pending Litigation██████6%

Public Engagement████4%

Procedural███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Powell Finance Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025

The Powell Finance Committee met on September 9, 2025, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. The committee reviewed the monthly financial report, discussed a major overhaul of the 2026 fee schedule to simplify permitting, and debated the future of the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) residential abatements, particularly regarding the Encore Park development. No formal votes were taken on the fee schedule or CRA; direction was given to staff to prepare legislation for the September 16 council meeting.

Consent Calendar

Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the August 12, 2025 Finance Committee meeting were approved unanimously.

Discussion Items

Monthly Financial Report: Finance Director Andy presented the August 2025 report. Year-to-date total operating revenue was $15.9 million (75.5% of budget, above target). Operating expenditures were at 53.9% of budget, below target due to timing. General fund balance stood at $24 million. Revenue increased 5.3% compared to August 2024. Notable: a large $62,000 refund in net profit collections due to an overpayment correction, but year-to-date net profit is still up 20%. Committee asked about notification of such refunds and the frequency of refunds due to address verification.
2026 Fee Schedule Overhaul: Planning Director Logan Stang presented a proposal to restructure building, planning, and engineering fees. The goal is to simplify and streamline the fee schedule, moving from multiple itemized charges to a two-step payment: an application fee (paid upfront to cover review costs) and a permit fee (paid at issuance for inspections). This change aims to recover costs when projects fall through and reduce confusion for applicants. Examples were given for single-family homes and commercial buildings. No increase in overall fees is intended; fees are being reorganized by lead department. Council members asked about impact on project viability, alignment with new OpenGov software, and treatment of sign permits and HDAC fees. Staff noted that development fees (separate, codified) will be reviewed as part of the zoning code rewrite. No action was taken; the committee appeared supportive of the direction.
CRA Discussion: The committee extensively discussed the residential Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) established in 2023, which allows a 100% property tax abatement for 15 years on new residential construction in the downtown area. This has been used primarily by the Encore Park development (19 homes). A moratorium on new applications went into effect September 2, 2025, expiring September 16. Council members expressed varying positions: some argued the abatement was unintended and harms school funding, others noted it was fully discussed when adopted and is a legitimate incentive. Key points: three applications were received before September 2 (including Encore Park model home). Options discussed included: eliminating residential new construction abatements entirely, grandfathering existing applicants, carving out Encore Park parcels, or limiting to renovation only. Staff clarified that changing boundaries would affect the entire CRA and require state notification. The committee generally agreed that commercial incentives should be preserved and negotiated case-by-case. No final decision was made; staff will prepare legislation for the September 16 council meeting, likely prohibiting new residential abatements post-September 2, with possible grandfathering for properties in contract. Council members also discussed the legal risks of different approaches.

Key Outcomes

No votes were taken on the fee schedule or CRA amendments; these will be brought to the full council on September 16, 2025.
The moratorium on new CRA residential abatements remains in place until September 16.
Staff was directed to prepare legislation that would prohibit new residential construction abatements moving forward, potentially with grandfathering for existing applications and parcels in contract (e.g., Encore Park).
Council will consider options including boundary adjustments or separate CRAs for residential and commercial.
The next Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for October 14, 2025, at 6:30 PM (Budget Review).

Meeting Transcript

Go ahead. All right. I will call to meeting or call to order the finance committee meeting. I'll go ahead. It looks like we are missing Jennifer. She caught that I she did. She did. Um with that. Um did everyone have a chance to review the minutes? Any additions, corrections? And I have a motion to adopt. Move to adopt. A second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. With that. Then it's our approved. All right. Today's bit business. Um the monthly finance report. Okay. I will make this pretty quick. Um, nothing concerning really for the month of August. Um, year to date through August, total operating revenue was 15.9 million. That was 75.5% of the budget, which is above our 66.6% target. Um, all of our revenues are strong. Um, as far as the year, they're all above the target budget. Operating expenditures are low, they're below budget 53.9%. Um, a lot of this is timing for in the year so far. Personnel expenses are on track. We've got 62.8. Um, but our operating expenses and capital equipment, those are fairly below the budget. So we'll try to, you know, kind of dig in with staff and figure out if there's large purchases that are coming, kind of what's the status of those. So we will be into that. Um, our total expenditures for the year to date, 14.9 million, and then our general fund balance is just shot a little over 24 million there at the bottom. Any questions on this first executive report? Okay, page two. We um all funds cash balance 50 million, 15,652 dollars. General fund cash balance is the 24 million nine hundred and thirty-eight dollars. Cash flow analysis uh general fund revenue year to date 15.9 million, general fund expenditures 14.9 million, giving us year-to-date uh positive net cash flow of 996,000 dollars approximately, and our year-to-date revenue as of August increased by 5.3 percent compared to year-to-date August of last year. Questions on that okay. Next page, nothing concerning there, just kind of shows your cash pending cash balance position for all of your funds for general fund expense expenditures, year to date 14.9 million, and then I will just call your attention to a couple notable items for the month. Um, software maintenance and then software subscriptions. We have a couple of our um granicus um items that I know were previously discussed for budgeting and appropriations, everything else for the month was uh status quo. Questions on expenses next page general fund revenues 15.9 million notable revenue items at the bottom. Um, we did get our semi-annual real estate tax receipts in August. That was just over 472,000. Our total year-to-date real estate taxes for 25, 997,405 dollars. That is a 3.3 percent increase from 2024 real estate tax receipts, and then interest earnings strong again for the month in the general fund 117,833 questions on revenues. Next page, tax receipts, year-to-date tax receipts totaled 12.7 million, which was a favorable variance of 3.5 percent compared to 2024.

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