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WHEELING -- Officials in the city of Wheeling are hoping for the best but planning for the worst through the current fiscal year, which could deliver a blow by way of a $1.5 million reduction in revenue.
This week, members of the Finance Committee of Wheeling City Council received the July financial report from City Manager Robert Herron.
Although some revenue line items are doing well, there are a number of revenue streams that continue to be down as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Herron said that while the B&O Tax revenue presently appears to be ahead, it is not an accurate reflection of the actual numbers since it does not figure in the month of August, which is one of four months during the fiscal year when delinquent B&O Tax revenue is taken into account.
"We'll have a true picture on the impact of the current situation at the end of August as it relates to B&O, which is a direct reflection of commerce throughout the city," Herron said. "But the revenues we can directly attribute to the effects of COVID -- besides B&O, which we'll talk about next month -- is about $85,000 for the month."
The city manager said the financial report for July -- the last completed month showing all financial activity in the city and the first month of the current fiscal year -- showed the city's bed tax, or hotel/motel tax, was down $46,000, parking revenues were down about $18,000, revenues from utilities were down about $9,000, and other revenue sources were down around $8,000.
"All of that totals up directly to about $85,000 for one month as it relates to COVID," Herron said.
The city manager said early on in the pandemic, he and Wheeling Finance Director Seth McIntyre began discussions about how to anticipate the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic could have on city revenues over the course of a 12-month period with the economy in its current state.
"I think the worst-case scenario -- and this will change as we go through the year -- but we need to plan for about a $1.5 million reduction in revenue," Herron said.
The city manager indicated that if the $85,000 loss in revenues shown for the month of July ends up being an accurate reflection of the monthly losses the city could face moving forward as a direct result of the pandemic, then the city needs to plan for that situation within its fiscal year budget.
"But again, hopefully that's a worst-case scenario," he said.
On the bright side, the city has been successful in securing federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act as allocated by the state to municipalities to help cover losses directly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications continue to be submitted on a monthly basis, and so far, the city has been successful in securing funds for losses tallied for the partial month of March and the full months of April and May to the tune of about $3 million. This is expected to help greatly in navigating through tough financial times in the city, and applications for reimbursement for losses during the summer months also are expected to be submitted to the state.
"The cash balance at the end of the month is $1.2 million, almost $1.3 million. At the same time last year in comparison, that was $2.2 million. So we're off about $1 million," Herron said.
"We have not yet received the actual payment for the CARES Act money for March, April and May as we've discussed. We do anticipate receiving a large portion of that this week."