City beating 2020 economic forecast

Avon Finance Director Bill Logan believes the city will end 2020 on more solid financial footing, beating previous financial forecasts.

In a July 13 meeting of the Avon Finance Committee, Logan said revenues presently are down between five and six percent, but expects the city to recoup most of those declines as individual revenues flow in over the next three months.

While businesses are holding up well with only a one percent decline in withholding tax, the city is down about $1.6 million in individual tax collection, he said.

“With July 15 being that filing deadline, and people paying their 2019 taxes, you’ve got believe they’re going to get paid, at least the bulk of them,” Logan said. “Will there be a higher delinquency rate?

“Maybe, but I don’t think anything drastic.”

Looking forward to 2021, Logan said the impact will be worse due to the number of layoffs and job cuts from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

While the city is not at a point where it will quantify hard, across the board budget cuts for department heads, Logan said the city is delaying certain projects.

The city is preparing to submit its preliminary tax budget which will be scaled back in preparation for the full financial impact.

The budget forecasts a $1.1 million drop in revenue.

For 2020, despite the economy slowing, Logan said the city is continuing to see revenue flow in through gasoline taxes and hotel taxes despite making reductions in those forecasts.

“You look at all the different revenues, we’ve taken a lot of things down again in the forecast,” Logan said. “But, we’re seeing the numbers come in better than what we had taken them down, like gas tax, which we get every month; motor vehicle registrations; even motel tax, we took that way down in the forecast, yet we’re still seeing some decent dollars come through.”