General Fund Overview
2023 Budget Story - Homepage Link
Revenue & Expense Summary
The General Fund is established to account for the revenues and expenditures to carry out basic governmental activities of the City in the broad categories of general government, public safety, public works, parks and recreation, and government building maintenance. Revenues (e.g., taxes, licenses, permits, fines and forfeits, service charges, etc.) and expenditures (e.g., personnel, benefits, professional services, supplies, etc.) are recorded by source. General Fund expenditures are made primarily for current day‐to‐day operations and operating equipment and are recorded by major functional classification and by operating department. Revenues are projected based on information from City staff, Washington County, other external sources and analytical review. Charges for services are reviewed annually to ensure reasonableness and may be adjusted for inflation.
This General Fund is comprised largely of discretionary funds, since the Mayor and City Council can allocate the funds to programs and services in any area. There are few restrictions on how these resources may be allocated. The City cannot use fees collected from services for discretionary use.
The chart below shows historical revenue and expenditure performance for the General Fund, as well as budgetary information for the current and upcoming fiscal year.
It is important to note, and this will continue to be highlighted throughout the budget document, staff is proposing the City Ambulance operations be consolidated into the General Fund for 2023. Further information regarding this proposal is contained in the Fire & EMS Department budget page.
Revenues
With revenue projections being a crucial aspect of budgeting, Oakdale estimates revenues at a realistic level to prevent shortages in funds. With collaboration from the overseeing department head, the City considers each revenue source’s history and future economic outlooks to project revenue.
The 2023 revenue amount is comprised of a number of revenue sources. Similar to years past, the largest source of revenue for the General Fund is the property tax. The remainder of the General Fund revenue is generated by sources such as licenses, permits, fees, charges for service, fines & penalties and other financing sources.
The revenue estimates show that, like most other cities, Oakdale relies heavily on property taxes to support General Fund operations. For 2023, property taxes represent 64.2% of the total estimated General Fund revenue,, which is a 25.4% increase from the 2022 budget. Other 2023 highlights from each revenue category are summarized below:
Intergovernmental:
- Local Government Aid - Reduction of $260,588 under the current law.
- Federal Grants - Police increase of $120,000 to account for Oakdale's participation in federally funded sex trafficking program.
- Fire State Aid - Increase of $185,000 as this was previously directed to the Oakdale paid on-call Fire Corporation.
- Fire Services Provided to Other Local Governments - Increase of $44,400 for services provided to Landfall & Pine Springs (previously budgeted in Ambulance Fund).
Other Taxes:
- Cable Franchise Fee - Reduction of $80,000 as result of more restrictive requirements and a new cable franchise in addition to declining cable subscribers.
- Other Taxes - Decrease of $90,905 as this revenue is now classified as Payment in Leiu of Taxes, Excess Tax Increment, or Manufactured Homes.
Other Financing Sources:
- Transfers In From Other Funds - Reduction of $115,400 from the closure of the Communications & Broadcasting Fund in 2022 and elimination of $60,000 transfer from Future Building Fund; while increasing $119,000 with the closure of the Neighborhood & Strategic Initiatives as this activity has been moved to the General Fund.
- Use of Fund Balance - Removal $100,000 that was budgeted in previous year.
Permits:
- Permitting - Increase of $747,035 as result of development expected by the Community Development Department. A philosophy of conservatively budgeting development revenues has been followed over the years because of the limited control the City has over these revenues. Many factors are used when determining the probability of these revenues, including the complexity of the development, the number of entities involved, practicality of financing, and the number of planning & zoning modifications required.
Licenses:
- Fire Inspection Fees - Increase of $64,891 as a result of contracting this service out and obtaining inspections that were once assigned to the State.
Charges for Services:
- Ambulance Charges net of Write offs & Ambulance Mileage Charges - Increase of $1,266,501 as this revenue was moved from the Ambulance Fund for 2023.
Fines & Penalties:
- Court Fines - Increase of $20,000 as collection rates are similar to pre-pandemic levels.
Other:
- Antenna Rentals - Decrease of $45,000 anticipated due to mergers in the telecommunication field and reduced carriers.
Expenditures by Type
The City maintains consistent assumptions for expenditures. Budget requests typically account for inflationary increases to maintain services levels. Within the General Fund, the City categorizes expenditures several ways. Consistent with years past, the largest budgetary items are tied to employee costs under personnel and benefits. The remainder of the annual budget is allocated to professional services, supplies and other operating costs
For 2023, the following general assumptions were included throughout the most updated budget:
Personnel:
- 3.0% increase in market rate compensation (cost of living).
- Step increases for applicable employees consistent with the Council approved Classification & Compensation program.
- The budget doesn't include amounts for severance, annual PTO buyouts, and annual holiday buyouts.
- Additional positions either hired in the middle of the previous year - $205,124; hired ahead in 2022 - $740,124; or proposed for 2023 - $246,588 for a total of $1,191,836.
Benefits:
- 7.9% increase in Health Insurance premiums.
- 9.5% increase in Dental Insurance premiums.
- No change to either Short or Long-Term Disability premiums.
- No increase in Life Insurance premiums.
- In 2022 staff created expense codes to clearly identify each benefit provided by the City and to account for the cost independently. This is also done centrally by Finance to improve consistency of reporting and remove the responsibility from department heads.
Professional Services:
- Professional Services overall is increasing by 5.0% or $116,952 for 2023. Many of line items have changed significantly, mainly as a result of additional accounts that were created to better describe the activities these funds are being used for. Significant changes include:
- Reduction of $558,040 due to elimination of paid-on-call staffing model.
- Increase of $207,900 in the Fire Department for items previously paid by the Fire Corporation including, Regions Medial Direction Contract, Mental Health and Wellness services, and building & equipment maintenance.
- Increase of $79,613 due to Metro-Inet agreement.
- Increase for various software’s including $60,500 for OpenGov software; $12,000 for NeoGov HR software; and $12,500 for Icompass meeting agenda software.
- Increase in Community Development services including $10,000 for the Business Retention and Expansion program; $10,000 for General Planning Support; $25,000 for Code Updates; and $50,000 to begin working on the Parks Master Plan in late 2023.
- Legal Services - Increase of $20,000 for general legal services based on utilization and assistance with complex legal issues.
- Legal Services - Labor - Increase of $10,000 with unsettled labor contracts and increased utilization.
- Inspection Services - Increase of $35,000 for contracted building inspector services to assist with hail damage inspections expected to be completed in 2023 and $112,730 as a result of contracted electrical inspector fees from increased electrical permits.
- Increase of $11,500 with Fireworks for Summerfest moving to the General Fund (closing the Summerfest Fund).
Supplies:
- Operating Supplies - Increase of $51,000 for cleaning, oxygen, and medical supplies that were previously paid for by the Fire Corporation.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - Increase of $24,500 for Firefighting equipment including thermal imaging cameras, firefighting foam, hose, nozzles, tools, oats, boots, helmets & gloves and an increase of $15,750 for Police equipment including vest covers, medical supplies, and body armor.
- Landscape Materials - Increase of $17,300 in Public Works for upgraded woodchips in the parks, general weed control supplies, spring planting, and the Arbor Day tree give away.
Operating:
- Utilities - Increase of $63,850 due to inflation and price increases.
- Training & Travel - Increase of $23,050 due to training for the Fire Department that was previously paid for by the Fire Corporation.
- MNCare Tax - Increase of $30,000 due to the inclusion of Ambulance services in the General Fund.
Other:
- Bad Debt Expense - Increase of $25,000 due to the inclusion of Ambulance services in the General Fund.
Capital Outlay:
- Capital Outlay Under $5,000 - Decrease of $6,897 related to computers, printers, monitors, scanners, and other hardware. As much as staff attempts to normalize the spending annually, replacements are made as needed, which may not make for a smooth annual budget.
- Capital Outlay Other - Increase of $8,400 for switches related to the proposed phone system upgrade.
- Furniture & Fixtures - Increase of $5,000 to refresh the display room at the Discover Center.
Additional Positions Impacting the General Fund
For the 2022 budget, these positions were anticipated to be hired July 1. As a result, the numbers listed above (which represents 1/2 years total cost) are an additional expense for the 2023 budget.
The positions have been hired ahead for 2022. Notes:
- Public Works Manager - split between the General Fund and Utility Funds.
- Police Officer - was hired to backfill an Officer who is being funded by a federal grant.