Too early to tell COVID-19 impact on Plano sales tax revenues, official says

Plano City Treasurer Zoila Gomez says that it's too early to assess the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will have on the city's budget.

The city's current fiscal year ends April 30, meaning that it already has received the bulk of its sales tax revenue for the past 12 months.

"We're pretty solid in what we've received to date, but it's next fiscal year that's going to be affected," Gomez said. "At the moment we really have no information on what that could possibly be."

On average, Gomez said, the city takes in about $1.7 million in revenue annually through sales tax and has projected revenues of $1.77 million for the current fiscal year.

"We hope to get more, but obviously with what's going on, we're not sure where we're going to end at this point," she added.

Municipalities across the state are expecting to see significant decreases in their sales tax revenue as a result of the shutdown of many retail stores, restaurants and bars under Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's stay at home order. The order is in effect until April 30, but the governor could extend it for another several weeks.

The city was instructed by the Illinois Municipal League to wait and see "where everything settles at" and they'll be able to offer guidance to city officials at that time, according to Gomez.

The same thought applies to the city's video gaming revenues, Gomez said.

Plano takes in between $90,000 and $100,000 every fiscal year from video gaming revenue and has projected to take in $100,000 in the current fiscal year.

"We're just going to wait and see how it all shakes out," she said.

The city will be adopting its new budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1 "as is," Gomez said, and will amend it, if necessary, once everything "shakes out."

City officials are working diligently, Gomez said, to make sure the city stays true to its budget, while making contingencies to prepare for further impact from the coronavirus.