Finance Committee

City of Rome FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING March 4, 2024 PRESENT: Committee Chairman Jim Bojo City Commissioner Jamie Doss City Commissioner Wayne Robinson City Manager Sammy Rich Assistant City Manager Meredith Ulmer Finance Director Toni Rhinehart Assistant Finance Director Kraig Ingalsbe Recording Secretary Vicki Blair Guests: Dr. Eric Holland, Rome City Schools Superintendent Greg Studdard, Rome City Schools Finance Director Mary Hardin Thornton, City Project Manager Kelley Parker, Assistant to City Manager Doug Walker, Public Relations David Crowder, Rome News Tribune Committee Chairman Bojo called the meeting to order and approved the minutes from the November 29, 2023 meeting by common consent. He then turned the meeting over to Dr. Eric Holland, Rome City Schools Superintendent, and Greg Studdard, Rome City Schools Finance Director, to review the Rome City Schools Financial Report. Dr. Holland began by giving a quick overview of how the budget is handled at the Rome City Schools. He explained the process of their strategic growth plan to determine sustainability and accountability. Their budget retreat is in April and these items will be discussed at that time. He then turned the meeting over to Greg Studdard, Rome City Schools Finance Director, to present the Monthly Financial Report for January 2024 – General Fund. This report is provided to the School Board every month for their review. With 58.33% of the school year complete, approximately 63.14% of revenues have been received and expenditures total approximately 58.79%. He then reviewed the report for funds that are reimbursed from federal programs and discussion was had regarding how federal funding is broken down according to ratios of teachers and counselors to students. Dr. Holland stated they have done a great job at strategically planning for the best funding to be received. Mr. Studdard concluded his presentation with a review of the SPLOST distribution for each month and discussed items that can and cannot be purchased or spent with SPLOST funds. Committee Chairman Bojo then turned the meeting over to Finance Director Toni Rhinehart who began with a proposed budget amendment for the Planning Department in reference to the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The document is required to be updated every five years. This was inadvertently left out of the budget request for 2024 but needs to be added in at this time. A grant is being applied for to cover most of the cost – 80% Federal and 20% Local funding. The City and County would each be required to contribute approximately $20,000 each. A motion was made by Commissioner Wayne Robinson to accept this amendment and it was seconded by Commissioner Jamie Doss. This will be brought before the full city commission at the next meeting for a vote. 1 Ms. Rhinehart then moved on to a quick overview of the funds by reviewing the January 2024 Financial Statements. She noted that the numbers were in regarding the Local Option Sales Tax for January which showed an increase from $821,605 in 2023 to $904,886 in 2024. GENERAL FUND: Title Tax Fee Revenues received in January are recorded as a receivable for the prior year in December, so no revenue is reported in January. She went on to discuss the various revenues that are included in the General Fund. She mentioned that total operating expenses are up slightly over last year but below budget. WATER FUND: Water is an enterprise fund and is self-supporting. No transfer from the General Fund is required for this fund. BUILDING INSPECTION: Building Inspection is also an enterprise fund and is completely funded by fees they receive which are mostly from permits. This is a completely self-supporting fund and requires no funds from the General Fund to operate. TRANSIT FUND: The Transit Fund is federally, state and locally funded. Normally there are some mainline fares included in this fund, but ridership has been free for several years. The cash balance is mostly due to the restricted cash held from the sale of the Tripper buses. BID FUND: A short discussion was had regarding the type of revenues the BID fund receives and the expenses incurred for events. TOURISM FUND: The Tourism Fund is primarily funded by hotel/motel tax with hotel/motel tax from City, Floyd County, and Cave Spring. Some revenue is also from the gift shop sales, history center rentals, Roman Holiday and Trolley rentals. FIRE FUND: The Fire Fund is funded 50/50 – City/County. The majority of expenses in this fund are personnel related. HOTEL/MOTEL TAX FUND: Hotel Motel revenues are allocated between regular Hotel/Motel, Forum Promotion and Tennis per legal requirements. INSURANCE: The Insurance Fund has been hit hard with large insurance claims in 2023 and continuing into 2024. We were required to increase premiums for both the employee and the City’s contribution in 2024. The City of Rome is self-insured which means that we pay insurance claims directly. WORKERS COMP: Revenues and claims are in line with prior years. TAD FUND: Each TAD has its own cash account. Discussion was had regarding the properties included in each TAD and when their financing is expected to payoff and when the TAD will sunset and/or dissolve. 2 ENTITLEMENT FUND: The Entitlement Fund is federal grant dollars managed by the Community Development department. GOLF FUND: The Golf Fund is managed by an outside entity. They send their financials to the City monthly and submit their annual budget to the City as well. The debt associated with the Stonebridge Golf course pays off in 2024. PARKING FUND: New ideas are being discussed regarding parking and will be addressed at a later date. SPLOST FUND: The City will begin collection of 2023 SPLOST funds in May from April sales. SOLID WASTE COMMISSION FUND: The Solid Waste Commission Fund is an enterprise fund and is funded strictly by revenues generated within the fund. A continued increase to cash is needed as work for Phase 9 is coming soon. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT FUND: Fees are collected from customers through their water bill for Solid Waste Management services. This does not pay for the service entirely. A substantial contribution from the General Fund is required to fully fund this service. PLANNING COMMISSION FUND: Planning Commission Fund is split between City and County. GIS and Capital are split between City and County as well. PUBLIC BUILDINGS FUND: The Public Building fund covers the DFACS and State building on Riverside Parkway. This building is owned by the City, and rent is collected on a monthly basis for the use of the building. The City does contribute to the maintenance and repairs to the building. LAND BANK AUTHORITY: There are several houses under construction at this time. ARP funds have contributed to this fund and funds have also been pledged from the County for Land Bank construction. TENNIS CENTER: The Tennis Center is managed by an outside entity who also provide the City with financials. FORUM FUND: The Forum Fund is a work in progress but seems to be moving in the right direction with several upcoming rentals and events. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OPERATING FUND: This fund is funded strictly by grant money with some City contribution. 3 OTHER BUSINESS: City Manager Rich began a discussion regarding 23 SPLOST priorities and the possibility of inter- fund-borrowing to help with expediting the progress on the list of approved projects. The committee was in full support of the idea. We do begin receiving SPLOST collections in May from April sales but much of those funds have already been committed. With no further discussion and no other items to review, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Vicki Blair 4