Fiscal Carryover May Fund Wheeling Street Paving, City Pay Raises

WHEELING -- The city of Wheeling finished the 2022-23 fiscal year in the black, bringing a sizable cash carryover into the new fiscal year that is expected to help fund a new paving contract and an annual raise for city employees.

Members of the Finance Committee of Wheeling City Council met this week to discuss the June financial report, as well as an end-of-year budget review. Finance Committee Chairman Dave Palmer had noted on several occasions in recent months that no money had been budgeted for paving during the 2023-24 fiscal year that began July 1.

The cash carryover for the previous year will likely help resolve that issue.

"Our unencumbered cash carryover was $1,360,000," Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. "We do budget for a $300,000 cash carryover that's included in the revenue of the current year's budget, which we've done for the past several years. This leaves an unencumbered cash carryover of $1,060,000, which is subject to council appropriation."

The fiscal year that ended on June 30 saw strong revenues that show a significant bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, officials indicated.

"May and June, from a revenue perspective, were very strong months - June in particular," Herron said. "Revenue in June this year was $1,857,000. Last year, it was $1,355,000."

In 2021, the city was receiving federal pandemic reimbursements through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act. The revenue in June of that year was $3.1 million, a figure skewed by the CARES Act revenues, the city manager noted.

"But if you go back to the COVID year of 2020, revenue in June was $882,000, so we're talking about $1 million increase now compared to back with COVID hit," Herron noted, explaining that June revenues in the city were even stronger than most typical years during the same month.

May was also a strong revenue month by about $500,000, Herron added.

"We do have a balanced budget," he said. "We did finish the year in the black, and there's almost $1.1 million that's left to be appropriated by council."

City council has been successful in reimbursing a number of costs for various equipment purchases for the police and fire departments that have been reimbursable with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, Herron explained.

A lot of the needs that were expressed in the process of hammering out the 2023-24 fiscal year budget with the various city department heads have already been met, the city manager said. This leaves the door open for discussions of items that are typically targeted this time of year -- across-the-board pay raises for city employees and a new paving contract.

"A 3% pay raise to the general fund would equate to about $480,000," Herron said. "However, there are some savings built into the current general fund budget, and only about $260,000 would be needed for the pay raise. That would leave $800,000 for a 2023-24 paving contract, which had not yet been budgeted for the new fiscal year."

Herron noted that the city was able to get a good rate on its health insurance for the new fiscal year. The city also has a number of vacancies in its budgeted payroll in a number of positions, including the position of Finance Director.

"So there are some built-in savings in the budget right now which would allow us to be able to absorb $220,000 of that $480,000 increase," Herron said of the proposed raise for employees.

Last year, the city was still steeped with ARPA funds, and council approved the largest-ever demolition and paving contracts for a fiscal year. Paving reached several city streets and even took care of several alleys in the city for the first time in many years.

"An $800,000 contract is a pretty large contract, but as council knows, we just completed a $1.8 million contract," Herron said. "And that worked out really well with doing performance parameters in the fall and in the spring. It not only helped us in managing it, I think it helped the contractor in managing the work on a fairly large contract."

The city manager suggested using that portion of the cash carryover for paving. If council approves it, the work could go out to bid this summer, and work could again be split between this fall and next spring.

"As far as paving goes, I would also suggest or request that we dedicate a significant amount to alley paving, which I think has been a big success so far," Vice Mayor Chad Thalman, a member of the Finance Committee, added.

Thalman suggested that half of the $800,000 recommendation for a new paving contract be channeled to resurfacing alleys in the city.

"I'm all in on both," Councilman Ty Thorngate said of the utilization of cash carryover money for city pay raises and paving work.

Palmer noted that the city administration and operations department will compile a list that identifies streets and alleys in the city that still need to be paved, prioritizing the ones that need it the most.

Finance Committee members agreed to forward recommendations for pay raises and street paving expenses to city council for consideration. The next Wheeling City Council meeting is scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 at Wilson Lodge at Oglebay.