Alva Business Manager Joe Don Dunham kept his report short at the Aug. 19 Alva City Council meeting. There was a long agenda ahead, and comments by the public earlier had taken about 30 minutes.
He noted the Oklahoma Municipal League is tracking several issues coming up in the next legislative session.
Six vehicles, one trailer and an air compressor that had been declared surplus were auctioned off via sealed bid and one vehicle was transferred. The GMC 1990 flatbed pickup was transferred to Sanitation. The city plans to place the other vehicle and two tractors on auction with PurpleWave.com, a public online auction house. The city collected $2,716 for the surplus items sold.
The city has hired a part time paramedic and a sanitation driver. They still have openings for three seasonal general labor employees, four EMT’s, one paramedic and one sanitation driver.
The council was given written reports from city departments. The Street Department has completed asphalt overlay on 18 blocks. During August the street crews will be working on College Avenue from Church Street to Barnes Street and completing Locust Street from 7th Street to 14th Street.
Projects
Since the GO bond election failed to pass Aug. 13, the city has notified the Oklahoma Health Department that the public swimming pool will not be open in the spring of 2020.
The chlorination station construction is moving forward but there have been some equipment delays. Those have been addressed, and it’s expected the project will be finished by the end of August.
Well field rehabilitation has been slowed by weather and work on the swimming pool. The city spent $30,000 replacing pumps on two wells. The state Department of Environmental Quality performed a routine inspection at the city water wells, and it went very well. There are some tests such as pH, alkalinity and stability that need to be done and reported monthly.
The Skyline sanitary sewer lift station was recently inspected, and in discussion with the contractor the lift station should be ready for the final inspection by the end of the month.
Financial
In his financial report, Dunham reported the city received $987,101 in revenue and expended $918,884. Transferred out was $95,615. The transfers include distribution of earmarked sales taxes.
The City of Alva cash account, which includes all departments, had a balance of $56,284.30 and investments for all departments totaled $2,132,567.18 at the end of July.
Through the month of July, the city has made $58,164.87 in principal payments and $12,986.96 in interest payments. As of July 31 the city owes across all entities a total of $6,309,809.35 in loans. The payoff dates range from July 1, 2019, to Sept. 15, 2048.
During July the city received $301,020 in sales tax and $24,072 in use tax for a total of $325,092. This is down $41,887 from June 2019 and up $27,809 from July 2018. Approximately 95 percent of the taxes are contributed by utilities, wholesale trade, retail trade, and accommodations/food service.
The city has received in August, the sales and use tax money from sales which occurred in June. The amount is $322,862 which is a $2,230 decrease. Staff anticipates an increase in tax receipts. eBay was required to begin collecting tax on July 1, 2019. This should be reflected in the Sept. 2019 sales tax.
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