Shows #’s Ahead of Projections

     Thursday, Feb. 20—Revenues to the City of Falls Church are up by 1.5 percent over budget for the first six months of the current fiscal year, a report by City Manager Wyatt Shields to the City Council that is slated to be presented at this Monday’s meeting shows. The 2nd Quarter Financial Report for the General Fund of the City also shows that the boost is accounted for by “greater investment income, and charges for services.”

     The number offsets the fact that tax revenues a slightly under budget by 0.6 percent. But “supplemental billing for completed constructions are coming in higher than we budgeted,” the Shields report says, “even as tax relief provisions are coming in at around $200,000 higher than budgeted.”

     Shields also notes that personal property (car) tax numbers will probably exceed the budget by the end of the fiscal year in June. Sales tax revenues are lagging behind revenue projections by 3 percent, despite a 3.2 percent gain in year-over-year growth. The tax revenues from groceries are up slightly by 1 percent, he said, while taxes from online sales are down by 2 percent. 

      “We are still expecting new establishments to open up to boost the revenues,” he added. He did not mention the new 45,000 square foot Whole Foods opening just last week, but it fits into his remarks.

       Meals tax revenues provided by restaurants, while even with last year, are below budget projections by 8.7 percent. Other taxes are 3.2 percent ahead of projections due primarily to improved hotel taxes resulting from the opening of Home2Suites by Hilton at the West End and the Meeting House Hotel in the center of town. 

       Recreation and Parks revenues have boosted charges for City services by 20.7 percent, and fines and forfeitures are also way ahead of projections, at 42.6 percent, due to the enforcement of speed cameras on W. Broad. Also, the City’s investments are “providing significant revenues exceeding our projections for the year due to interest rates at higher levels than we have seen in the past few years, as well as higher reserve balances,” the report says.

       The report notes that the real estate assessments having come up by 10.5 percent, as announced this week,  are higher than projected in last December’s forecast of 6.9 percent.

       On the expenditure side, the City shows underspending relative to budget projections for the first half of this fiscal year across most areas that is “primarily due to vacancies or projects still in the pipeline.”