RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — City Council did something Tuesday (Dec. 17) that is believed to not have happened in perhaps 30 years or more.
It approved the following year’s budget before the calendar turned to January.
“It sounds like it may be 30 years, or beyond, since we’ve not waited until the month of March, which is the statutory deadline (March 31) to put a permanent budget in place,” interim finance director Tom DiLellio told council Tuesday. DiLellio has been with the city for many years, on and off, in finance roles.
Council approved by a 6-0 vote (Ward 3 Councilwoman Cassandra Nelson was not present) a 2025 budget that totals $29.5 million. That figure is an increase of about $1.5 million compared to the 2024 budget of $28 million.
Revenues for 2025 are projected to be $26.5 million. Mayor Kim Thomas, however, said there likely will not be a need to deficit spend in 2025 as the approved budget includes road work totaling about $3 million, and the city expects to receive reimbursement from the state of Ohio for $1.8 million of that cost.
Further, interim assistant finance director Travian Atkins assured council, ”From 2021 up to 2024, we always have come in under the actual budget amount, and not by a little bit. For ‘24 alone, we’re coming in at almost $6 million under budget from what we asked council to pass for our (budget last year).
“I know it may seem like a high number,” she said, “but we definitely have revenues coming in so we don’t have to tap into our general fund.”
DiLellio said one chunk of increased revenue is likely to come at the end of the current year when Cuyahoga County announces what Richmond Heights’ property tax receipts will be.
“I fully anticipate our property tax to go up considerably from what I’ve put in the budget for the moment,” DiLellio said.
He said property valuation is about 25-percent higher than in 2023. He said that that doesn’t mean receipts will go up 25 percent, but that there will be additional funds above what he included for property taxes in his projected revenues.
The budget increased from 2024 due to increased costs brought on by inflation, and 3-percent raises given in negotiated union contracts, among other reasons.
The city’s reserve fund remains quite healthy at more than $8 million. Interest on that reserve, DiLellio said, will total about $396,000 for the year.
Present at Tuesday’s council Committee-of-the-Whole meeting was the city’s financial adviser, David Conley, owner and manager of Rockmill Financial Consulting of Columbus. Conley gave high marks when appraising the city’s financial situation.
Conley told council and the administration, “If (the city of Richmond Heights) were a corporation and you had a stock — if you’ve ever seen where a stock analyst will assign a ‘buy,’ ’sell’ (or) ‘hold’ designation to a stock — Richmond Heights would be a ‘buy.’
“Your financial performance in 2024 was incredible.”
Conley said that that strong performance has allowed the city the ability to deal with some of its capital needs and “changes to the city that have to be addressed.”
Looking ahead to 2025, he sees Richmond Heights remaining in “the ‘buy’ category.” Conley noted that DiLellio was correct in being on the conservative side when projecting revenues for 2025.
Conley recommended that the city undertake capital projects, such as a first-time, five-year roadwork plan put in place, and borrow money to pay for those projects, spreading out the debt over the life of the projects. This would allow the city to keep cash on hand in the general fund to pay for city services.
Conley is working on providing for the city a five-year financial plan, which will also take in increased tax money to be gained from the $450-million Belle Oaks Marketplace mixed-use project at the former Richmond Town Square mall site.
Speaking about the passage of the 2025 budget in 2024, Thomas noted that council members are not familiar with such timely passage given decades of past March budget approvals.
“Most municipalities pass it (a budget) in that fiscal year,” Thomas told council. ”By January, they’ve already started their road project and other services for their city.”
She said that passing a budget in the same year as that budget is to be enacted delays city services.
“Residents expect us to deliver on time,” Thomas said, adding that it is time for the city to spend some money to ensure providing top services.
“We can’t operate the way we were operating — two years, five years (ago). We just can’t. It’s a new council, it’s a new administration (Thomas became mayor in 2022), and our residents expect us to deliver.”
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