Shenandoah prepares slight budget cutbacks following sales tax payments decline

Following the release of sales tax data from the Texas Comptroller's Office, Shenandoah is planning on cutting budget requests from City Council in response to a nearly 32% decline in generated revenue for April.

Shenandoah Finance Director Lisa Wasner said between March and April, the city has seen a decrease of around $308,000 compared to 2019. However, Wasner said year-to-date sales tax data shows the city is down $266,000, as high months have helped offset the previous two months.

"It has changed how we are budgeting this year," Wasner said. "We had to go back to the drawing board. Each department had to look at their budgets, and we have been monitoring the best way to adapt to this."

Among the budget changes is the removal of council requests for budget items, which the council previously agreed to. The only council request item active at this time is work being done on the proposed Holly Hill Park, which Wasner said was previously budgeted for.

"We are going to try and keep our budget within our sales tax," Wasner said. "We are pretty fortunate this year to not have many capital expenditures coming out of the general fund. I think we are still in a good spot. This is just a weird event."

Wasner said while the decline in sales tax was at 31.99%, she had anticipated the decrease to be more significant and the city was having to adapt on a near-daily basis as reopening orders continued to change.

"The only thing you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Wasner said.