The Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee heard a monthly financial update on January 2025 showing overall revenues running close to budget, while staff warned that timing and encumbrances were driving short-term variances.

Director Holbrook said the city’s revenues were about 1% positive through the first seven months of fiscal 2025 and that personnel spending was within roughly 2.5% of budget. “We don't collect the same amount of revenue every single month. Our revenues have been very close this year, with a positive variance right now of 1%,” Holbrook said.

The update matters because the city’s largest and second-largest revenue streams come into focus during the spring tax season, staff told the committee. Holbrook noted net-profits collections were running about $1 million over budget to date and that some categories — notably insurance and golf revenues — were performing above budget, while certain service-fee collections and some franchise-fee timing had pulled other categories down. He also said some collections were delayed by mail and processing timing and that contract encumbrances explained a portion of current variances.

Director Luker provided additional detail on personnel and operating variances, saying the January accounting cycle included a one‑time jump in personnel budget authority and spending in January and that health‑insurance and some overtime and public‑works costs contributed to month‑to‑month movement. “In the month of January alone, we added about $45,000,000 of personnel budget to our budget. Out of that, we spent about $41,200,000,” Luker said, adding that some professional-services and material bills from the winter storm had not yet posted and would show up in February.

Committee members asked for fuller monthly reports. Council Member Gray pressed staff for a complete budget report that includes additional funds and divisions; Holbrook explained accounting’s monthly close typically runs through the 10th of each month and the earlier committee meeting date constrained inclusion of some fund reports in the packet.

The packet also included an ARPA financial summary for committee review.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of the committee summary for 01/21/2025: motion made and seconded; committee voice vote recorded as "aye" with no opposition; outcome: approved. (No mover/second named in the transcript.)
- Motion to adjourn: motion made and seconded; committee voice vote recorded as "aye" with no opposition; outcome: approved. (No mover/second named in the transcript.)

The committee moved next to an economic outlook presentation by the University of Kentucky and later to a parks funding briefing.