Complete Document - City of Auburn

City of AuburnRevenue Overviewbiennium. As part of this process, the revenues for the second year of the current bienniumare reviewed and revised as necessary based on actual revenues to date, other knownfactors and the status of the actual expenditures compared to the budget in light of actionplans for the remainder of the biennium.General Fund RevenuesThe top five revenue sources of the General Fund typically comprise about 80% of the totalprojected revenues available to finance the annual expenditures of the Fund:FY 02FY 03 FY 04% of % of % ofActual Total Total TotalSources (Unaudited) Revenue Budgeted Revenue Budgeted RevenueSales and use taxes $ 12,966,504 39.9% $ 13,200,000 41.3% $ 13,500,000 40.8%Occupation license fees 5,102,558 15.7% 4,950,000 15.5% 5,075,000 15.3%Business license fees 4,282,168 13.2% 4,755,500 14.9% 4,849,000 14.6%Solid waste collection fees 2,106,985 6.5% 2,130,600 6.7% 2,151,800 6.5%Ad valorem (property) taxes 1,529,229 4.7% 1,665,000 5.2% 1,735,000 5.2%Totals - Top Five Sources $ 25,987,444 80.0% $ 26,701,100 83.5% $ 27,310,800 82.5%Total Revenues $ 32,498,932 100.0% $ 31,974,298 100.0% $ 33,104,616 100.0%Sales and use tax: The City’s sales and use tax rate is 2.5%. The State sales tax is 4% andthe county sales tax is 1%, for a combined sales tax rate within the City of 7.5%. This rate iscomparable to that levied in the neighboring city and compares favorably with other Alabamacities nearby. The City sales tax is administered by the Finance Department staff. Growth inthe sales tax is attributed to geographic expansion and economic development of the City.Fiscal year 2000 was the first year in Auburn’s history that the sales and use tax revenueaveraged more that $1 million per month.Occupation license fee: Auburn levies a 1% occupation license fee on the compensation ofall employees who work within the city limits. Generally, the employer withholds theoccupation license fee and remits the taxes withheld to the City. If the occupation license feeis not withheld and remitted by the employer, the employee is individually responsible, underthe City’s ordinance, for remitting the license fee to the City. This revenue source directlyreflects the impact of Auburn University’s presence and the City’s economic developmenteffort. The recent locations of Stahlschmidt and Maiworm, CV Holdings and other companiesin the Auburn Technology Park are examples of the City’s ability to recruit new industriescreating a diversified economy for the citizens of Auburn. The City’s effort to diversify theeconomic base has produced growth in the occupation license fee revenue source averaging9.8% per year since 1980. Revenue from this source in fiscal 2001 was more than six timesthat in FY1980, without an increase in the fee rate.Business license fee: City ordinance requires that each business obtain a license annuallybefore conducting business operations within the City. The amount of the business licensefee is dependent upon the nature of the business and the amount of its previous year’s grossreceipts. Typically, this revenue source reflects changes in economic conditions, an56