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General Fund FYE24 Operating Results Memo pdf file
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DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
TOWN OF CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS
SUSAN E. DESJARDINS
MEMORIAL HALL
ASST. TREASURER/COLLECTOR
801 WASHINGTON STREET sdesjardins@town.canton.ma.us
WILLIAM R. SCOLLINS III CANTON, MA 02021
FINANCE DIRECTOR (781) 821-5006
PHONE: 781-575-6610
rscollins@town.canton.ma.us LOUIS M. JUTRAS
FAX: 781-575-6608
(781) 575-6612 INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER
town.canton.ma.us
ljutras@town.canton.ma.us
ALLYSON M. PODGURSKI
(781) 821-5069
TOWN ACCOUNTANT
apodgurski@town.canton.ma.us CODY M. PRATT
(781) 575-6605 ASSISTANT TOWN ACCOUNTANT
cpratt@town.canton.ma.us
(781) 821-5011
Memorandum
TO: The Honorable Select Board
FROM: Randy Scollins, Finance Director
DATE: August 27, 2024
SUBJECT: General Fund Fiscal 2024 Operating Results
Having recently closed the books for fiscal 2024, the Finance Department prepared the
following reports which are attached for your review:
1) Summary of Revenues and Expenditures
2) Revenue Report (2 pages)
3) Operating Expenditure Report (4 pages)
4) Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2024
Budgeted Revenues and Expenditures
The summary report compares budgeted revenues and expenditures against actuals for
fiscal 2023 and 2024. The fiscal 2024 budgeted deficit of $4,796,577 was due to the planned
use of cash reserves for the following items:
Library Roof & HVAC Replacements $1,173,077
Capital Stabilization Deposit – Galvin Middle School earmark 1,000,000
Transfer to School SPED Reserve 1,000,000
Road Improvements Supplement 740,000
Land Acquisition – 27 Neponset St. for Downtown Parking 320,000
Capital Budget Contingency 250,000
Police Audit (Voted at 11/20/23 STM) 200,000
Police Contract – Education Incentive 76,000
July 4 Community Celebration
th
35,000
Community Recognition 2,500
Total Cash Reserves $4,796,577
Actual Revenues and Expenditures
Fiscal 2024 was a solid year for the Town, financially speaking, with revenues coming in
ahead of expenditures by $617.6 thousand. Compared to the budgeted deficit of $4.79
million the total FY 2024 operating surplus was $5.4 million better than plan.Source page 2
General Fund’s Fiscal 2024 Operating Results
August 27, 2024
Page 2 of 4
The revenue and expenditure variances to plan are as follows:
Local Receipts (e.g., excise taxes, interest earnings, bldg. permits, PILOT pmts.) $4,608,984
Transfers from Other funds (entire variance from Solar facility) 485,079
Tax Title Revenue 163,001
State Aid 10,988
Property Tax Revenue (98.19% collection rate w/in year of tax) -334,969
Total Revenue Surplus $4,933,085
Unspent appropriations (municipal budgets and fixed costs) 481,143
Variance to Plan $5,414,228
Unspent prior year encumbrances (municipal budgets and fixed costs) 653,651
Total Variance to Plan $6,067,879
FYE 2024 revenue performance was improved by a variety of factors impacting three of the
four primary revenue categories, Local Receipts, Transfers and State Aid.
Local Receipts continued their strong performance in FY ’24, beating budget by $4.61MM
and prior year by $731K. The expectation is that at least $1.5MM in excess local receipts
are collected, consistent with prior financial plans, in order to “recharge” Free Cash.
Local Receipts variances to plan are as follows:
Earnings on Investments $2,148,860
(71% improvement over prior year! – Highest earnings on record.
Federal Funds Target Rate increased from 1.5% at 7/1/22 to 5.25% at 6/30/23, or 350%.
That rate was maintained for the entirety of FY ’24, 7/1/23 – 6/30/24. The Town’s Treasury
division continued to actively manage its cash investments to take advantage of this likely
temporary and no risk earnings opportunity.)
Motor Vehicle Excise (6.7% improvement over prior year.) 1,284,666
Meals Excise 448,602
($563K - Highest on Record by 15.9%, reflecting partial year addition of Top Golf)
Hotel Excise ($693K in FY ’24, is Highest on Record by 29%) 405,268
Building and Related Permits 159,527
School Medicaid Reimbursements (Highly variable) 117,516
All Other 10 Local Receipts Categories 44,545
(Includes $103K negative variance associated with wireless rental receipts. Several wireless
accounts are on Water Enterprise property and therefore are now properly being credited to
the Water Enterprise Fund.)
Total Local Receipts Variance to Plan $4,608,984
As noted above, funding from Transfers were better than plan by $485,079 entirely related
to the rate received on Net Metering Credits (NMC) being the second highest on record since
the Pine Street Solar Farm was constructed. The NMC rates do vary as they are impacted
by market prices, which are reset twice per year by the DPU. The FY ’24 average NMC rate
was $0.2895, or $0.0294 less than the FY ’23 average rate of $0.3189 per Kilowatt. The
range on this rate prior to FY ’23 was $0.1613 in the farm’s first year in 2013 to $0.2360 in
FY ’22. The FY ’23 average rate was 35.1% higher than the previous high in FY ’22. The FY
’24 average rate was 9.2% lower than the FY ’23 rate.Source page 3
General Fund’s Fiscal 2024 Operating Results
August 27, 2024
Page 3 of 4
FY ’24 Kilowatts generated by the Solar Farm were 6,327,120, or 1.3% above the average
over the life of the farm. The range of Kilowatts generated has been from 5,946,690 in FY
’18 to 6,809,400 in FY ’19.
State Aid came in $11K higher than budget, with $21.8K associated with net increases in
General Government accounts, and -$10.8K associated with decreases in Education
accounts.
Property Tax revenue collections for FY 2024 were $335K less than budget. The collection
rate of 98.19% on FY ‘24 net property taxes in FY ’24 was 1.44% less than FY ’23. The
collection rate is typically over 99%. As of this writing the FY ’24 collection rate is 98.82%
“New Property Tax Growth” came in higher than plan. Real Estate and Personal Property
New Growth taxes were $1.12MM better than plan and $82.3K less than plan, respectively,
or $1,038,341 better than plan combined.
On the Expenditure side, it was another positive year with ~$1.13 million in appropriation
turn backs for FY ’24 and prior year encumbrances with the top 11 returning the following:
Town General Insurance $165,863
Fire Department 165,057
Snow & Ice Removal 160,000
Fincom Reserve Fund 159,000
Recreation Department 102,473
Assessors 79,830
State & County Assessments 78,898
Health Department 76,501
Veterans Department 68,143
Finance Department 42,215
Retirement Benefits 22,129
All 21 Other Voted Budgets 14,685
Total Appropriation Turn Backs $1,134,794
Status of Cash Reserves
The attached balance sheet report prepared as of June 30, 2024 will be submitted to the
Department of Revenue for free cash reserve certification.
We estimate the general fund’s free cash reserve to be approximately $9.46 million as of
June 30, 2024. Please know that the final determination as to the Town’s free cash reserve
is made by the Department of Revenue in the Fall.
As an outcome of the operating results from fiscal 2024, the Town’s estimated cash reserves
have decreased by ~$295 thousand to $24.68 million as follows:
Stabilization Fund $ 10,546,858
Free Cash Reserve 9,468,251
Surplus Overlay Reserve (net of pending ATB cases) 4,666,621
Total $ 24,681,730Source page 4
General Fund’s Fiscal 2024 Operating Results
August 27, 2024
Page 4 of 4
These reserves amount to 19.0% of fiscal 2025’s budget. In efforts to maintain the Town’s
AAA bond rating we target the reserves to be 15% of budget and we have achieved that goal
again in fiscal 2024.
I hope you will find this information to be useful. If you have any questions or comments,
please contact me and I’ll be happy to discuss.
Attachments
cc: Charles Doody, Town Administrator
Derek Folan, Superintendent of Schools
Brian Lynch, Asst. Superintendent Director of Finance & Operations
Emilio Mauro, Chair, Finance Committee
Kendall O'Halloran, Chair, School Committee
Allyson Podgurski, Town AccountantSource page 5
SUMMARY OF REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES
CURRENT FISCAL YEAR PRIOR FISCAL YEAR
FY 2024 FY 2024 Actuals vs. FY 2023 FY 2023 Actuals vs.
Revised Budget ACTUAL Revised Budget Revised Budget ACTUAL Revised Budget
GENERAL FUND REVENUES:
PROPERTY TAX REVENUE (Excludes Overlay) 93,691,340 93,356,371 (334,969) 90,361,116 90,024,636 (336,480)
STATE AID (Excludes GMS MSBA Reimbursements) 11,539,764 11,550,752 10,988 10,697,742 10,801,071 103,329
LOCAL RECEIPTS 9,250,000 13,858,984 4,608,984 8,800,000 13,127,625 4,327,625
TRANSFERS FROM OTHER FUNDS 3,789,723 4,274,802 485,079 2,870,617 3,452,800 582,183
TAX TITLE / FORECLOSURE REVENUE 0 163,001 163,001 0 222,957 222,957
TOTAL REVENUES 118,270,827 123,203,912 4,933,085 112,729,475 117,629,089 4,899,614
GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES:
SCHOOL EXPENSES 53,915,543 53,979,606 (64,063) 50,658,405 50,615,444 42,961
MUNICIPAL EXPENSES 26,637,741 26,554,375 83,366 25,025,058 24,254,458 770,600
FIXED COSTS 34,002,957 33,620,015 382,942 33,568,679 32,991,063 577,616
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 114,556,241 114,153,996 402,245 109,252,142 107,860,965 1,391,177
CASH CAPITAL EXPENDITURES 2,131,000 2,131,000 0 1,909,000 1,909,000 0
TRANSFERS TO STABILIZATION FUNDS 1,000,000 1,000,000 0 1,000,000 1,000,000 0
SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS 3,796,577 3,796,577 0 1,978,000 1,978,000 0
STATE & COUNTY CHARGES 1,583,586 1,504,688 78,898 1,568,333 1,513,485 54,848
TOTAL EXPENDITURES 123,067,404 122,586,261 481,143 115,707,475 114,261,450 1,446,025
SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) - GENERAL FUND (4,796,577) 617,651 5,414,228 (2,978,000) 3,367,639 6,345,639
ATMDATA - 8-21-24.xlsx FYE 24 GF Summary 8/27/2024Source page 6
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CANTON
Combined Balance Sheet - All Fund Types and Account Groups
as of June 30, 2024
(Unaudited)
Fiduciary Account
Governmental Fund Types Proprietary Fund Types Fund Types Groups Totals
Special Capital Internal Trust and Long-term (Memorandum
General Revenue Projects Enterprise Services Agency Debt Only)
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents 35,811,780.47 15,879,057.72 16,983,090.05 7,690,753.44 12,580,632.86 29,822,016.58 118,767,331.12
Receivables:
Personal property taxes 173,109.21 173,109.21
Real estate taxes 889,566.42 889,566.42
Allowance for abatements and exemptions (7,429,893.82) (7,429,893.82)
Tax liens 1,222,253.88 6,586.36 1,228,840.24
Motor vehicle excise 971,401.05 971,401.05
User fees 715,048.15 715,048.15
Utility liens added to taxes 732,747.03 732,747.03
Departmental 1,809,950.74 1,809,950.74
Special assessments 43,961.42 4,086.39 48,047.81
Due from other governments 977,126.00 977,126.00
Other receivables 65,364.10 65,364.10
Foreclosures/Possessions 523,968.40 523,968.40
Prepaids 805.63 805.63
Working deposit 1,359,400.00 1,359,400.00
Amounts to be provided - payment of bonds 922,000.00 1,704,000.00 27,287,930.00 29,834,603.06 59,748,533.06
Total Assets 32,162,991.24 19,638,682.24 18,687,090.05 36,495,929.11 13,940,032.86 29,822,016.58 29,834,603.06 180,581,345.14
LIABILITIES AND FUND EQUITY
Liabilities:
Accounts payable 2,787,081.17 554,165.36 441,589.49 287,686.58 209,543.79 26,149.00 4,306,215.39
Accrued payroll 765,932.79 63,299.58 31,671.79 688.00 861,592.16
Withholdings 686,738.16 7,828.28 694,566.44
Other liabilities 325.00 10,590.71 10,915.71
Deferred revenue:
Real and personal property taxes (6,367,218.19) (6,367,218.19)
Tax liens 1,222,253.88 6,586.36 1,228,840.24
Foreclosures/Possessions 523,968.40 523,968.40
Motor vehicle excise 971,401.05 971,401.05
User fees 715,048.15 715,048.15
Utility liens added to taxes 732,747.03 732,747.03
Departmental 1,809,950.74 1,809,950.74
Special assessments 43,961.42 4,086.39 48,047.81
Other receivables 65,364.10 65,364.10
Prepaid taxes/fees 5,234.25 5,234.25
Tailings 10,714.66 10,714.66
IBNR 1,412,991.61 1,412,991.61
Agency Funds 1,242,745.78 1,242,745.78
Bonds payable 922,000.00 1,704,000.00 27,287,930.00 29,834,603.06 59,748,533.06
Total Liabilities 606,106.17 3,400,288.46 2,153,417.77 29,135,124.75 1,622,535.40 1,269,582.78 29,834,603.06 68,021,658.39
Fund Equity:
Reserved for encumbrances 5,304,972.55 939,881.90 7,228,144.60 1,249,216.86 13,388.92 14,735,604.83
Reserved for expenditures 3,649,200.00 319,008.77 235,000.00 4,203,208.77
Reserved for continuing appropriations 3,929,365.93 729,485.00 4,658,850.93
Reserved for petty cash 200.00 50.00 250.00
Reserved for working deposit 1,359,400.00 1,359,400.00
Undesignated fund balance 18,673,146.59 14,250,018.11 9,305,527.68 10,958,097.46 28,539,044.88 81,725,834.72
Unreserved retained earnings 5,876,537.50 5,876,537.50
Total Fund Equity 31,556,885.07 16,238,393.78 16,533,672.28 7,360,804.36 12,317,497.46 28,552,433.80 0.00 112,559,686.75
Total Liabilities and Fund Equity 32,162,991.24 19,638,682.24 18,687,090.05 36,495,929.11 13,940,032.86 29,822,016.58 29,834,603.06 180,581,345.14