FY 18 Annual Report

Other Community - Economic Development

2018

CITY OF SPENCER, IOWA

Departmental Highlights

Budget Review The Other Community - Economic Development department consists of city funding for four main programs or activities. These include the Renaissance Initiative Grant program, maintenance of the city's broadcasting equipment through he Cable TV fund, Local Option Sales Tax and the Griffen Trust distributions. The Renaissance Initiative Grant program was established in the fall of 1999 as a way to support a variety of community projects and to encourage innovation in meeting the needs of the community. Funding for the projects comes for Local Option Sales Tax receipts. Applications are accepted twice a year and are reviewed by a citizen committee. Since inception, the grant program has awarded over $558,000 for local projects and programs. FY 18 grants are listed below. The city's Local Option Sales Tax was approved and became effective January 1, 1999. According toe h ballot language that was adopted, the revenue generated by the 1% tax has to be spent as follows: * Fifty percent (50%) shall be used for funding of capital improvements as determined by the City Council; * Fifteen percent (15%) shall be used for economic and community development as determined by the City Council; * Ten percent (10%) shall be allocated to the Clay County Fair Association to be used for capital improvements; * Twenty-five percent (25%) shall be allocated to the Spencer Community Schools District for capital improvements. Information regarding the Local Option Sales Tax is found below. The Griffin Trust distributes annual interest received to support the children of the community. Information regarding the purpose of the Trust can be found below. Total expenditures classified as Other Community and Economic Development for FY 18 were $1,786,477.74, a decrease of $234,361.51 (-11.59%) compared to FY 17. Activities that are considered Other Community and Economic Development are the city's Renaissance Initiative Grant program, cable TV fund, Local Option Sales Tax and the Griffin Trust. The decrease in expenditures in FY 18 is primarily due to less being expended out of the Local Option Sales Tax fund. LOST receipts were $209,730.40 lower than in FY 17. Lower receipts means lower payouts to Spencer Schools and the Clay County Fair as well as lower transfers to the Capital Improvement fund. In addition, the State of Iowa had paid the July 2017 LOST payment in June and therefore the amount was transferred in FY 17. FY 18 had one less LOST transfer to Capital Improvement than FY 17. This is also part of the reason for the lower receipts in FY 18. The Cable To fund has been utilized to maintain and improve the city's equipment used to broadcast public meetings. In FY 18, maintenance was needed on the system. The expenditures for the Renaissance Grant were 120% more in FY 18 than FY 17. This is due to the timing of grant awardees requesting their reimbursement. Annually, the grant committee has at its discretion approximate $25,000 a year to award to various community groups. While the full amount may not be awarded each year, the money then rolls over to the next funding cycle. Over $26,000 was paid in FY 18 for previously awarded grants. The Griffin Trust's expenditures were relatively flat in FY 18. The only source of revenue for this Trust is the interest amount received. These funds are expended around Christmas each year to aid children's of the community. Overall the expenditures made for Other Community and Economic Development purposes were 87.06% what was budgeted.

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