By Loretta Huff
As described in the initial article, the City’s Operating Budget is organized into funds. Simplistically, the funds can be thought of as separate checking accounts to handle specific areas of City operations.
The General Fund is used to cover government operations that are not specifically addressed in a separate fund. It is covered on pages 30 through 33 of the 2025 Budget Message. For 2025, the General Fund is expected to have revenues or inflows of $43,402,253. There are seven sources of revenue: Taxes, Licenses and Permits, Charges for Service, Intergovernmental, Fines and Forfeitures, Interest & Miscellaneous, and Transfers.
- Taxes are the primary source for income at $33,596,260, more than 75% of the total. Sales and Use Taxes account for $21,262,500 and Property Tax for another $9,400,000. Building Use Tax of $900,000 and Xcel Energy Franchise Fees of $1,275,000 are the next largest sources of tax revenue.
- The largest individual line item is the License/Permits category $950,000 for Construction Permits.
- “Charges for Service”, or fees, are the second largest source at $4,110,210. This includes trash service, campground, and utility service fees.
- In the Intergovernmental category, the City is expecting $500,000 for Sustainability Grants and. $301,050 for Clean Energy Tax Incentives.
- Fines and Forfeitures is the smallest category at $414,110. Traffic Fines ($232,000), Photo Radar Fines ($75,000), and Traffic Admin Fees ($80,800) account for almost all of the revenue in this category.
- Interest & Miscellaneous is the third-largest category at an estimated total of $2,005,400, mainly coming from Interest ($900,000) and Vendor Fees ($648,900).
- While Transfers is the second smallest source at $728,900, it is interesting. In 2025, the General Fund is expected to receive transfers of $500,000 from the Lodging Tax Fund and $80,000 from the Marijuana Tax Fund. The income from these two relatively recent taxes is tracked in separate funds and then a portion is transferred to the General Fund. Therefore the revenue is not shown in the Taxes category. The Open Space Capital Projects Fund will transfer $148,900 to the General Fund.
