The city of Fayetteville is down $1.2 million in revenue, with a bulk of the loss coming from a deficit in sales tax (about $577,000) and a decrease in building permits (another $433,000), Paul Becker, the finance director for the city reported at Tuesday’s agenda session.
Although revenue is down, Fayetteville is still meeting operating expenses, he said.
In planning for third and fourth quarter shortfalls, Becker said the city would continue to monitor job vacancies.
“We’re trying to delay the replacement of people as long as we can without affecting operations,” Becker said.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan asserted that cutting the workforce would be a last resort.
For the first two quarters this year, the city used last year’s surplus to recover the loss and delayed filling the communications director position until last week. For the fourth quarter, the city might have to consider dipping into reserves, Becker said.
Mary Robbins is a guest contributor for the Fayetteville Flyer. Mary declared Fayetteville as her hometown upon moving here for college. She is a Journalism graduate who enjoys live music, the outdoors and attending city council meetings. For more of Mary’s contributions, visit her author page.
