Edmonds finance director presents May 2025 report; investments and vacancies flagged for follow-up

Edmonds Finance Director Paul Gould presented the city’s May 2025 monthly financial report to Council Committee A on July 1, giving an operational summary, fund balances, and an update on investments and vacancies.

Gould opened by describing changes to report timing and content and said he had removed older forecasting reports he judged misleading. He told the committee he was working to provide clearer trend‑focused reporting and invited council members to suggest additional detail.

Key financial figures and staff observations presented: - Fund balances and cash: The general fund ending fund balance was tracking toward approximately $1.8 million after an approved May budget amendment; overall cash and investments totaled about $79 million, of which roughly $58 million was held in the Washington State Treasurer’s Local Government Investment Pool (state pool) and about $12 million in bonds and certificates of deposit (CDs). Gould described a preference to diversify off the state pool into a ladder of bonds/CDs but said timing and market conditions make moves a tradeoff. - Investments: Gould said the state pool yield was about 4.41% in early June and that several city bonds and CDs maturing later this year have higher locked rates (one July maturity around 4.8% was cited). He explained a laddering strategy (mixing short and longer maturities) to protect against rate swings and said staff had begun buying bond positions selectively. - Expenditures: Overall spending was about 41% of budget through May. The fleet fund (Fund 511) showed an 8% over‑budget indicator; Gould said that reflected a $100,000 annual WCIA insurance payment allocated to fleet and heavy early use of the fleet B‑fund for replenishment ($517,000 of $721,000 budgeted spent so far). - Vacancies: Council asked about “vacant but funded” positions. Gould said funded vacancies represented roughly 12% of positions; if all funded vacancies were filled immediately, the annual labor cost would be about $1.46 million. He said staff would analyze hiring timing and whether a budget amendment would be needed; at present the city was only 3% under budget in expenditures, which requires further reconciliation by staff. - Reconciliation: Gould showed that cash reconciled to the general ledger with timing differences (for example a payroll paid June 5 that relates to the May 31 period), and said monthly reconciliations were up to date.

Committee members asked for more frequent or trend‑based department comparisons to budget, and for a status report on the city’s outstanding municipal bonds and long‑term debt. Gould said he would follow up with a bond inventory/status report and meet with interested council members on investment strategy. He also told the committee the second‑quarter report would provide more detailed analysis.

Next steps: staff will provide the second‑quarter report, follow up on vacancy cost reconciliation, and supply a bond‑status report to the council as requested.