Lakeway financial status still holding steady amid COVID-19 pandemic

The latest financial numbers for the city of Lakeway could be much worse, according to city staff.

While the fiscal year 2020-21 budget through the month of May did show a negative balance of $28,014 for Lakeway revenue, City Manager Julie Oakley said during the June 15 City Council meeting that overall the financial numbers, especially with regard to sales tax revenue, are not as bad as they could have been, and the city will see varying numbers as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve.

"We were very excited to see our sales tax number come in, which was our collections for April, [for] which we were all kind of holding our breath," Oakley said. "We are excited that ... April collection month came in at $25,000 short."

Oakley added with the shortfall of $50,000 in March, the city is now looking at a shortfall of $75,000 in sales taxes so far due to issues caused by the pandemic.

In total, the city should come in pretty close to budget in terms of sales tax and will probably be a little short but nothing too dramatic, she said.

Oakley said so far the city's budget shortfall when adding sales tax to other line item revenue losses looks to be about $300,000, according to the numbers shown through April.

It is likely the city could also have a savings fund of between $600,000 and $800,000 for the current fiscal year, Oakley said, and added city staff have been careful about spending whenever possible.