The Covington Board of Commissioners and city staff met Saturday to discuss the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, where they discussed the city’s overall financial health, spending goals for next year and ways to control expenses.
No official action was taken at the meeting, but it shed light on what the city was hoping for in the next budget cycle.
“We’re just going to keep a list of decisions that need to be made,” said Mayor Joe Meyer at the beginning of the meeting. “That way we make sure that we don’t run out of money.”
Steve Webb, the city’s finance director, spoke first, giving a presentation on the city’s overall financial health. Although the issue of work-from-home labor arrangements and their accompanying revenue decrease were still at play, Webb was optimistic about the city’s recent performance.
“In the last several months, we’ve been fortunate to have three of our better months we’ve had in quite some time,” Webb said.
Although the finance department’s projections showed that major operating expenses would likely overtake revenues by fiscal year 2026, Webb said that the gap was smaller than the department’s initial projections from January. He attributed this to a variety of factors, namely an overall increase in payroll tax receipts, a reduction in debt service and new sources of interfund transfer dollars, such as a payout from the recent opioid settlement, among other mechanisms.
The department's newest projections also suggested a reduction in the amount of federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, dollars the city would have to use to replace revenue lost due to work-from-home. Projections showed the city would likely only need to employ about $5.6 million in ARPA funds in fiscal year 2025, down from the $11.6 million projected for the current fiscal year.
After Webb concluded, several city departments--police, neighborhood services, economic development and public works--spoke about the conditions of their departments and shared the various ways they had controlled expenses. They also discussed the things they hoped the city would fund in the upcoming year. Notably, these included questions about vehicle stopping safety barriers for the police department, a dedicated administrative assistant for the neighborhood services department, and some new vehicles and equipment for the public works department.
Commission member and Mayor Pro-Temp Ron Washington encouraged the departments to make their asks in writing so that the commission and city administration could better keep track of everything.
"If you have something that you really want, write it in a memo and send it," Washington said.
Other points of discussion included the possible restructuring of the city's waste and recycling program, additional money directed towards the city's affordable housing initiatives, the police department's branding and the possibility of the economic development department using a consultant to advise on further mitigation for work-from-home.
Economic Development Director Tom West said that the consultant could help them answer how to turn the work-from-home situation "into a positive. How do we realize revenue from it?"
Discussions of the city's budget will continue over the course of next week. On Tuesday, May 14, at the commission meeting, Webb will present the result of the city's most recent financial audit. In addition, city staff and elected officials will continue their discussions of the upcoming year's budget and hear from the remaining city departments next Saturday, May 18, beginning at 9 a.m. Both meetings are open to the public.