WHEELING – Revenues for the city of Wheeling remain strong more than halfway through the current fiscal year, with totals at the end of January reflecting $1.3 million in revenues ahead of the same time last year.

Members of the Finance Committee of Wheeling City Council recently met to review the January Financial Report for the city. Overall, the city’s tax revenues and its Budget Stabilization Fund boast robust figures with just over four months to go until the end of the current 2025-26 fiscal year on June 30.

“The general fund cash balance at the end of January was $2,041,000 compared to $1,517,000 last year at the same time,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron reported. “Were about $1.3 million ahead of the same time last year. The strong revenue streams remain the sales tax … and the same thing with the Business and Occupation tax.”

Herron explained that the city receives quarterly payments for sales tax, and so far this fiscal year, three of those payments have already been received. Therefore, at 75 percent through the year’s payment schedule, the city is already at 82 percent of the projected budget for that revenue source.

As for B&O tax revenue, figures for January remained high, despite the fact that the month ended on a Saturday, and additional revenues from January were actually received after the books closed out for the month.

“The revenue line item on that is $7,479,000,” Herron said of the B&O tax. “We’ve already collected another $1.2 million during the first couple of days of February because of when the mail comes. So that number is actually $8.7 million. That is a positive, because the quarter for B&O doesn’t end until March 31.”

Herron said the B&O tax also has one more quarterly payment slated during the current fiscal year.

On the expenditure side, the city is just slightly ahead of budget, but $122,000 less in expenditures compared to the same time last year.

“As we go through the fiscal year, we typically fall more in line with the budget because of some of the up-front expenses that we have,” Herron explained, noting that bed tax transfers to the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority, some of the city’s insurance payments and other expenses often take place earlier in the fiscal year, and the numbers tend to balance during the end of the cycle. “They start to blend themselves out over the 12-month period.”

The city’s Budget Stabilization Fund – a rainy day fund that in recent years was bolstered by federal pandemic relief funds – is currently at $5,547,000 , Herron said, noting that the city has not had to utilize money in this fund to prop up the city’s general fund.

“That’s kind of where we’re in the financial statement process at the end of January,” Herron said.

City leaders expected some higher personnel expenses – particularly in the Operations Department – related to the severe winter weather in January. Those payroll figures will likely be reflected in February’s fiscal report numbers.

Herron noted that the city’s purchase of some new trucks and equipment truly helped crews tackle the wintry blast with very few problems.

“We had some breakdowns, but for the most part, the equipment held up very well,” Herron noted, “which minimizes the costs – particularly when you look at a storm of 12 to 14 inches, which is not common in Wheeling.

Wheeling’s Operations Department has 16 snow plows in its fleet. Herron said they typically schedule 14 during snow events and have the others in reserve if needed.