The latest fiscal condition of Washington CH was a major topic Wednesday
A majority of the 50 minute Washington City Council meeting was devoted to a report presented by City Manager Joe Denen Wednesday night on the financial shape of the community. Tom Riley, Director of Finance assisted on the report.
Using slides & written presentation Denen took council members through a presentation that featured charts & linear trend lines in income & expenses that the city had through 2011.
The presentation showed the three major funds of income & expenses are: General, Water & Sewer. As Denen explained expenses in general fund are usually people driven (salaries, capital improvements etc) while water & sewer are pieces & parts driven (upkeep, repair etc).
Also the water & sewer income can be partly effected by weather such as a dry summer or a wet winter may affect consumer demand & in turn the revenues paid by residents for their usage.
It was pointed out that the city main source of income is the city income tax which rebounded last year after a 1 year drop due to the economy. Denen noted that Washington Court House fared better than a lot of neighboring cities as the decline seemed to hit the community later & was only over a shorter time frame than what other cities suffered.
It was pointed-out as well that other sources of income such as license fees (were steady--but it's not a great income generator), Gas Taxes (which drop a little from 2010 to 2011) & local government funds (a drop the last three years from both state & federal).
The report ended stating that the Bond Rating for the City of Washington is excellent & the city is fiscally stable.
Council also heard during the meeting minutes from the service, safety & recreation committee.
At the end special words of tribute was expressed by several council members on the recent death of former councilman Bob Sanderson who served for 16 years including several terms as Council President.
The meeting was held in the basement conference room at the Washington Court House Fire Department.
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