Halfway through the fiscal year, city spending is down in just about every department and in just about every budget line item in comparison to this time last year.
The notable exceptions: Pension payments. Self-insurance. Worker’s compensation. And police overtime, which continues to balloon as officers leave the force.
That midyear fiscal snapshop emerges from a December 2019 monthly financial report, which catalogs city expenses and revenues for the first six months of Fiscal Year 2018 – 2019 (FY19).
Even though the city’s total year-over-year expenditures are up roughly 3 percent, or around $10 million, nearly every department has spent less so far this year than it did last year.
The overall increase is due almost entirely to a roughly $20 million increase to the city’s pension payments this year over how much it had paid into the funds at this point last year.
Click here to download the December 2019 monthly financial report. Click here to download the December 2018 monthly financial report.
The Public Safety Communications / 911 department has spent just under $1.6 million so far this fiscal year, which is 9 percent less than what it spent at this time last fiscal year.
The Finance Department has spent just under $8.2 million, which is 6 percent less than this point last fiscal year.
The Health Department has spent around $1.7 million, which is 5 percent less than this point last fiscal year.
The Public Works department has spent around $8 million, which is 4 percent less than this point last fiscal year.
And even the Police Department, which continues to see its overtime increase and increase, has only spent a total of around $21.2 million, which is 2 percent less than what the department had spent six months into last fiscal year.
Where the city has seen year-over-year expenditure increases has been in its fixed costs, such as pensions and self-insurance.
The one major outlier has been debt service, which has dropped significantly (for now) thanks to the city’s Aug. 2 restructuring of $160 million worth of existing debt, which pushed higher debt payments a decade into the future.
The latest monthly financial report shows that the city has deposited $59.5 million into its two underfunded public pension funds this year. At this point last year, the city had paid only around $41.9 million into its public pension funds, and delayed until the very end of the fiscal year to deposit the rest of its budgeted amount.
The city has also seen its self-insurance payments go up from $3.2 million at this point last year to $3.8 million so far this year.
Total employee and dependent medical claims, however, are a bit down, from $60 million at this point last year to $58 million so far this year.
Worker’s compensation payments, meanwhile, have increased from $4.1 million at this point last year to $4.3 million.
Total Fire Department expenditures have increased by 4 percent, from $17.6 million to $18.3 million. Fire overtime, however, is down 14 percent, from $1.99 million to $1.7 million.
And police overtime is up 14 percent, from $4.15 million to $4.7 million, as the department continues to lose officers of all levels of experience to jobs to retirement and better paying jobs in the ‘burbs.
The fire department is also over budget - by $1.7 million and counting. It never ends. This Chief of Fire is incompetent and can't live in his budget.