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Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron has been an excellent steward over his two-plus decades managing the city when it comes to keeping the general fund budget strong. But even he may not be able to work around current inflationary pressures that may be one of the reasons why Business and Occupation Tax collections for August were about $400,000 behind projections.
"The end-of-the-month cash balance for the general fund was $1,358,000, which is a little bit light compared to previous years," Herron told members of the Finance Committee last week. "Revenues are about $400,000 behind the same time last year. Most of that can be attributed to B&O tax collections -- they are not at the same level as they were last year."
When asked which sector of B&O collections lagged in August, Herron answered construction. While some of that may be attributed to the Interstate 70 Bridges project winding down, a more realistic reason is that residents and businesses are likely holding off on new work.
Consider: Inflation continues to cripple the economy, interest rates are rising quickly and home heating bills are expected this winter to be higher than they've been in a decade.
Herron has been a prudent fiscal manager for Wheeling for two decades. That won't change because of this lag in B&O collections. However, if things don't pick up soon, this could become a troubling trend that forces the city to look deeper into other cost-saving measures.
All this comes at a time, as well, when City Council has a lot of expensive proposals currently under consideration -- from how taxpayers can better support Wheeling's homeless population to revitalizing city neighborhoods. Leaders would be wise to proceed cautiously with spending until a clearer financial picture emerges.