City: Finances in good shape six months into year

CHILLICOTHE – Income tax revenue, refuse and EMS fees are remaining steady six months into the year, and city officials say they expect the trend to continue as they finish out the remainder of 2015.

A six-month budget review on Monday with city Auditor Luke Feeney and the Chillicothe City Council revealed that income taxes as of June 30 are ahead of where the city was a year ago while building permits also are up this year.

"We're seeing pretty steady revenue," Feeney said.

So far, the city's general fund revenue is up $337,000, though the city's transit department continues to lag behind compared with where it stood at the same time last year.

The transit department had collected $390,000 less than a year ago, as the Ohio Department of Transportation withholds several months of revenue because of compliance issues, Feeney said.

Additional income tax revenue could funnel into the city's coffers as a result of a new shopping center known as Guernsey Crossing on Bridge Street opening up this fall, though it remains unclear how much money will be generated. Still, Feeney anticipates things will continue to go well for the city moving forward.

"I'm cautiously optimistic we're headed in the right direction," he said. "We'll do our best to manage expenses through the end of the year."

Feeney said he expects to end the year with a $600,000 carryover balance, a figure he called a "conservative amount." However, the city has been in fiscal caution since 2012 because of a declaration by the Ohio State Auditor's Office, and Feeney recognized that there's much more work to be done.

"If we can have a month's worth of operations in reserves, that would be a good start for the city," he said, adding that he believes a plan needs to be developed to get to that stage.