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Sanitary Sewer Infrastructure Maintenance: Two additional employees were added to the Public Works Department about a year ago for the main purpose of keeping up with routine cleaning of roughly 39 miles worth of underground sanitary sewer piping in Oakwood. It is ideal to clean the entire piping system every other year, especially in areas where the land is flat because the pipes have shallow slopes and backups occur more easily. In 2023, the Public Works Department cleaned well over half of the sewer system.
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2023 FINANCIALS THROUGH OCTOBER: Finance Director Cindy Stafford presented the following financial data:
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General City Services receipts through October are at 92.60% of budget, while disbursements and encumbrances are at 83.01% of budget. Mrs. Stafford anticipates ending the year with expenses around 97% of what was budgeted.
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Refuse Fund receipts through October are at 84.06% of budget and disbursements and encumbrances are at 82.88% of budget.
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Water Utility Fund receipts through October are at 90.70% of budget and disbursements and encumbrances are at 73.11% of budget. There is a good chance that receipts may come in higher than anticipated due to the dry summer and associated heavy irrigation water use.
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Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund receipts through October are at 84.72% of budget and disbursements and encumbrances are at 72.08% of budget.
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Stormwater Utility Fund receipts through October are at 98.34% of budget and disbursements and encumbrances are at 93.02% of budget. This includes $985,000 transferred from the General Fund for the Far Hills Storm Sewer Reconstruction Project.
Mr. Klopsch reported that at the end of 2023, the city will have continued to provide comprehensive public services and, based on current projections, will have:
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$764,607 less in our General City Services funds.
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$40,890 less in our Refuse funds.
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$451,947 less in our Water funds.
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$319,284 less in our Sanitary Sewer funds.
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$45,967 less in our Stormwater funds.
All of the shortages will be covered by existing cash reserves.
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MUNICIPAL INCOME TAXES: Income Tax collections through November are about -0.8% less than 2022 receipts. Income tax receipts are starting to level out. A slight increase is budgeted for 2024.
Mrs. Stafford explained the city's plans to begin using Fifth Third Bank as our tax filing/payment processing center in 2024. Tax payments and returns will no longer be sent directly to the Oakwood city building. They will be directed to Fifth Third's tax processing center. The payments will go to a lockbox where they are then opened, sorted and directly deposited into the city's account. This change streamlines the process and saves the city both time and money.
Mrs. Boozell asked how much this service costs.
Mrs. Stafford said that is it $600 per month and will be used year-round.