Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council earlier this month received a budget update that shows Transient Occupancy Tax revenue exceeding expectations, and sales tax revenue meeting projections.

City Manager Sean Rabe in a report to the council said part of the revenue exceeded expectations in the hotel and motel tax area, while property tax revenue is on schedule, and sales tax revenue is meeting projections.

He said expenses are going pretty well, and with the Sutter Creek City Council’s appointment of full time Police Chief Brian Klier (CLEAR), the police department budget should reduce its need for overtime pay. Rabe said when Klier was serving as interim chief of police, he would accumulate overtime.

Staff will be working with the chief to address salaries and overtime running “ahead of budgeted amounts for mid-year” in the police department, where an adjustment of “$16,000 will come from existing revenues or reduction of other expenses.”

In a report to the council, Rabe said the city to year-to-date had taken in $269,000 in total general fund revenues, and was estimated to end the fiscal year with $1.4 million in general fund revenue. The budget’s projected total general fund expenditures were $1.3 million, with a “city council targeted contingency” of $74,284. He said mid-year revenue projections continue to remain on track, and the contingency was slightly better than the anticipated $74,000.

He said it was “still too early to make any assumptions on major revenue sources,” but “both sales tax and property tax are at 50 percent as of two weeks ago.” He said the “first property tax installment came in two weeks ago,” and was also “on track.”

The Transient Occupancy Tax on hotels and motels was “running ahead of estimates” and “revenue projection has been updated by $10,000.” Other revenues were “slightly ahead of schedule.”

Rabe said some mid-year expense projections were not under estimates. One was the Finance Department, for which the “city will need to reprogram” its existing budget, which “has enough to cover” it.

He said Planning, Streets and Roads will see significant savings in the last seven months of the fiscal year from furloughs, and the Administration and Finance Department continues to kept a “tight expense control.”

He planned to bring budget amendments to this week’s meeting of the council, which he did not expect to affect the city’s contingency amount. He said “increased revenue should offset the amendments.”

Rabe said his monthly budget reports will continue until the economy improves.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.