by Pauline Testagrose
City Comptroller
August 18, 2021
Fernandina Beach Comptroller Pauline Testagrose provided the July Budget Summary (below) to the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) at the FBCC’s August 17, 2021 Regular Meeting.
Overall: July is the tenth month and represents 83.3% of the budgeted fiscal year 2020/2021. All revenue and various grant revenues have been accrued for the month of July. All recurring expenses have been recorded. Annual maintenance and service contracts have been paid. Finance will monitor expenses and prepare budget amendments to ensure budgeted amounts are not exceeded on a line-by-line basis.
General Fund: (001)
Total General Fund revenues are at 96.8% of the annual budget. This is due to the timing of Property Tax, Local Business Tax, and Intergovernmental receipts. For the month of July, Property Tax is at 100.2% or just over $14.8M year to date. Intergovernmental revenue is at 121.1% of the budget due to the reimbursement under the Cares Act for COVID related expenses. Specific revenue sources we are tracking are detailed below.
General Fund expenses are at 61.9% of the budget which is below the 83.3% mark. Public Assistance is the only department over this mark. This is due to the additional pandemic related support provided to the Non-Profits by the City.
Special Revenue Funds: (100 – 190)
As was anticipated, Revenues plus Cash Balance Forward exceed Expenditures for all Special Revenue funds. The Land Conservation Fund in January closed on an additional 5.35 acres of land in the City. The City is under contract for the purchase of additional land and should close in early August. The current balance in this fund for land purchases is $322k.
Debt Service Funds: (220 – 230)
Semiannual interest has been paid on the GO Bonds in Fund 220 in October and in March for the Utility Debt Service Fund 230. In April, the final principal payment was made on the GO Bonds.
Capital Improvement Funds: (300 – 330)
The Capital Improvement Fund – 300, a debt service payment was made on the Fire Truck and a new Bucket Truck was purchased for Streets. Encumbrances and or payments have been issued for IT equipment, sidewalks, street striping, paving, ARC roof building C, the Peck Center windows and MLK Kiddie Pool improvements. Revenues exceed expenditures for the Capital Expansion and Wastewater Capital Improvement Funds.
Golf Course: (410)
A new cost center has been set up to segregate the Toptracer financial transactions. The personnel costs have not transferred to the new cost center due to the lack of dedicated staff assigned to the driving range. Profit and loss for both the Pro Shop sales and Food and Beverage are below the budgeted ratios.
Airport: (420)
Revenues exceeded expenses primarily due to the FAA grant revenue for the Runway 4/22
Rehabilitation project.
Sanitation: (440)
Revenues exceeded expenses for July. The City, took over the yard debris collection on April
7 th . A grapple truck was purchased in March to accommodate this service.
Wastewater: (450)
Revenues exceeded expenses year to date. With the reduction in Wastewater Charges that went
into effect October 1 , revenue is ($385,369) or (7.7%) lower than last year.
Water: (460)
Revenues exceeded expenses year to date for July. Water charge revenue is lower this fiscal
year versus last year by ($52,904).
Stormwater: (470)
Revenue exceeded expenses for July.
Marina: (480)
Year to date revenue for Slip Rentals – Transient is at $650,123 or 118.2% of the budget. Fuel sales began in May for both diesel and gas.
Fleet: (510)
Revenues exceeded expenses year to date. This fund is meant to be self-supporting.
Utility Billing and Utility Administration: (520 – 530)
It is anticipated in the budget, that Revenues plus Cash Balance Forward exceeds Expenditures in Utility Billing and Utility Administration.
Unfortunately, TopTracer and Golf Course continues to bleed red. TopTracer had $2,400 in bay revenue but almost $3,000 in promotional expense. What is Plan B?
Surely there must be a simple way to estimate personnel costs for Toptracer. Set up a simple time clock system to track employee time spent at the facility. Ditto for food and beverage. Set up a separate cash register account for food sent over to the Toptracer facility as opposed to “dining in”. Estimates are better than no information at all. Without good estimates, how will they budget for future new hires?