Fall River Q2 budget on track but officials flag overtime, legal fees and timing gaps

Emily Arpke, Fall River City’s director of financial services, told the City Council on Feb. 10 that the municipal general fund is “right on track” for revenues and expenses through the second quarter of fiscal 2026, but several timing issues and one-time receipts are skewing some line items.

Arpke said revenues tied to motor-vehicle excise and a handful of one-time recoveries — including insurance recoveries related to a demolition and some state collections — account for unusually high local-receipt figures this year. She cautioned the council those receipts are not recurring and offered to provide a detailed list to members who requested it.

The director drew attention to several expense pressures. The law department is running at about 83% of its annual appropriation mostly because of higher outside-counsel and court costs; Arpke said the administration will bring a transfer request to cover the shortfall. Lump-sum payments and the timing of vendor invoices also make some departmental lines appear overstated at the point-in-time when the report was pulled.

Councilors pressed Arpke on cash flow and a December delivery delay for road salt. Arpke said the city was current on payments and that statewide salt-supply issues — not municipal nonpayment — caused the delivery timing problems; she offered invoice backup showing the first delivery and check dates.

On school-related projects administered by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), Arpke said closeout paperwork for two projects had been submitted within the prior three weeks and reimbursements were expected within about a month; one remaining project was still awaiting a final audit.

Arpke noted that some enterprise and departmental lines are heavily front-loaded (for example, EMS and pension/health accounts), and that a roughly $1.5 million PCG (MassHealth) ambulance reimbursement typically arrives late in the fiscal year and will materially affect the EMS enterprise fund numbers.

Arpke and councilors agreed to follow up with more detailed backup on the law-department costs, the salt invoices, MSBA closeouts, and the list of one-time local receipts. The council also discussed timing adjustments and the likelihood of targeted transfers at the next budget meeting.

The committee approved routine minutes and several orders later in the meeting, and Arpke said she will return with supplemental detail on the items members requested.