Collecting More In Delinquent Taxes Pushed
Buena Vista’s budget and finance committee is making significant progress in reducing the gap between planned expenditures and projected revenues for next year.
The gap, which stood at $1.9 million when the committee began its work on formulating the fiscal year 2027 budget several weeks ago, has been reduced to $347,283, as of the committee’s most recent meeting on Monday of this week.
Interim City Manager Wayne Handley and Finance Director Steve Bolster have met several times as well to zero in on changes to lower the budgetary gap.
A number of rather sizable categories of savings have emerged from these budget work sessions. Approximate amounts of savings include $150,000 by eliminating two proposed new positions in community development and human resources, $100,000 in requested funding increases from the fire department and rescue squad and $100,000 in estimated Children’s Service Act funding.
Buena Vista’s share of costs for a planned new central dispatching radio system is being cut in half by spreading these expenditures over two fiscal years. Other substantial savings may be realized by delaying the filling of vacancies within the police department and sheriff’s office.
At City Council’s regular meeting last Thursday, Handley reported that stepped up efforts to collect delinquent personal property taxes could add to the revenue side of the budget. The current amount of delinquent personal property taxes over the previous five years stands at about $1.3 million, but collections have improved substantially in recent years.
Handley said he’s hopeful that perhaps 25 percent of these delinquent taxes could realistically expect to be collected in the next fiscal year. The treasurer’s office is utilizing “set off debts” procedures through the state to claim state tax refunds that were to go to those who owe local taxes, penalties and interest.
In a recent report of the city’s 2025 financial audit, Saidee Begoon of Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates informed City Council that these efforts by staff in Treasurer Amy Hudson’s office have led to the “best in the past decade” of personal property tax collections.
An accurate assessment of exactly what the city’s budgetary gap is can’t be ascertained until the state adopts a budget later this month. The latest projection for the local appropriation to the schools is that it would rise by $264,553 due to a local rise in Buena Vista’s composite index that would lower the state’s financial assistance.
Once the state’s budget numbers are known, Buena Vista will advertise a proposed budget along with proposed local tax and fee rates, and schedule a public hearing. A budget must be approved by the end of May.
