St. Charles may have budget surplus

St. Charles is trending toward a $369,000 budget surplus for the first three quarters of its current fiscal year — positive news driven by several taxes reaping better income streams compared to last year.

City Finance Director Chris Minick told aldermen at Monday night’s city council meeting that the city’s share of the state income tax as well as the city’s hotel and alcohol taxes both have contributed to city income levels slightly above what officials expected.

“In short, we’re continuing to match our expenditure levels to our levels of revenue,” Minick said. “And that’s kind of been our mantra through the current economy.”

The hotel tax has performed particularly well. Collections from that tax are nearly 12 percentage points higher than levels from the same time last year.

Minick also said the mild winter has saved the city a lot of money in expected overtime for snow-clearing efforts. The city still is on the hook with the state, by contract, for a salt purchase that now appears to be well beyond what the city actually needed for this year’s winter season.

In other action, city police and fire department employees now will have a panel of three commissioners to handle disciplinary issues rather than the five-member panel that’s been in place for the past five years. The long-term illness of one current commissioner and family obligations on the West Coast for another are driving the reduction in the city’s standing commission.