Marion revenues down for month, still ahead of budget

Marion revenues down for month, still ahead of budget

News & notes from monthly council meeting

news@theeveningtimes.com

June sales tax collections in Marion for June were down but the city is still running ahead of budget projects for the year.

City Treasurer David Rikard reported that sales tax collections dipped 2.1 percent for the month compared to a 2.7 percent drop in the county sales tax collections.

Rikard said the city is right on top of its budget projections though for the year.

Revenues in general fund were better than budgeted by $165,000. Expenses, on the other hand, are worse than budgeted by $97,000 leaving the city about $68,000 ahead of projections.

In other business:

• Building Inspector Jerry Kelley told the council that they had no new homes built in June and no new commercial projects. That brings the city’s totals in 2016 to 20 new homes, 23 new commercial, and 139 misc. projects.

“We didn’t have a very good month,” Kelley said.

• The city council authorized signing a two year loan for $283,135 for two new knuckleboom trucks with payments of $4,910 a month with a guaranteed buy-back at the end of the lease.

Street Department Supervisor Gordon Floyd reported that the county is also going to lease a knuckle boom truck to the city.

The city has one knuckleboom truck still for sale and one on govbids.com.

Floyd said the city already has a buyer for both trucks but is waiting to see if they can get more on the auction site. • Purchased three new federal

emergency signal sirens for $70,000.

“We have three sirens which are old and beyond repair and need to be replaced,” said Mayor Frank Fogleman. “We need them to be the same brand as the old ones.”

Fogleman said the cost was not included in the budget.

By Mark Randall