For a man versed in banking and finance, Troy Tymesen sounded more like a nervous fan watching his team make a push for the playoffs, his viewpoint steeped in panicked superstition.

“Don’t ask me about our budget,” the Coeur d’Alene city administrator said Monday. “You’ll jinx the whole thing.”

Playful warnings aside, Tymesen sounded optimistic about the city’s financial health. During tonight’s City Council meeting, as part of its ordinary housekeeping business, the council will acknowledge receipt of its financial report from comptroller Vonnie Jensen. The report is nothing new — this routine document is reported at city meetings all the time. Its contents are also fairly ordinary: The city, so far, is meeting its fiduciary responsibilities.

What is noteworthy, however, is its history of sound financial health.

“No, we’re actually conservative with the dollars,” Tymesen said. “Keeping property taxes low makes that a challenge; the property taxes we collect barely pays for police and fire [departements]. Just about everything else requires some creativity.”

Tymesen said one tried-and-true avenue for revenue comes through grants. Not budgeting for grants — but then hunting for them every chance the city gets —allows some financial flexibility that keeps the city’s coffers healthy.

“We’re not banking on grants,” he said. “We never bank on grants, and then we amend [the budget] for it. It’s a responsible way to give us some leeway and be responsible with the money that comes in, whether through taxes or fees.”

As of Dec. 10, according to the report, the city has spent just over $11 million of its $97 million budgeted through October 2020. That follows a report of funds available for city access, a sum equalling just over $50 million, $45 million coming from the Idaho investment pool account. Tymesen said most of that $45 million is dedicated funds.

When asked to expand on “just in case,” Tymesen bristled, saying he was fearful of projecting financial harmony in 2020, illustrating his fear of jinxes in his voice.

“Don’t you remember February?” he asked between chuckles. “I’m still baked about that. I’ll never get over February.”

Tymesen’s reference harkened back to the last days of January 2019, when the city was well under-budget in nearly all departments and funds — including the snow removal account. What followed was the highest February snowfall on record. Those four-and-a-half feet of snow buried Coeur d’Alene and any chance it had of staying under its budget. The city spent $22,000 in February alone just on diesel fuel to keep the plows running.

“I think the lesson there is just to prepare,” he said. “There’s only so much you can do when something unexpected like that comes up, and you can’t tell the future. So everybody has to make sure the city remains flexible throughout the year. That way, you can address something like a February that comes up.”

Mayor Steve Widmyer said the need to satisfy more dire concerns in unexpected situations like February runs hand-in-hand with saving during the easier times, creating a balancing act that he said alleviates the urgency of extremes.

“We always budget for the likely scenarios,” Widmyer said. “For example, in the Streets Department, we budget for the typical year. For the mild years, cost savings go into our fund balance, knowing that we will have extremes — like last February — where we will need to use money we have put in our savings account.”

With only 18 percent of the fiscal year in the city’s rearview mirror, there’s still plenty of time for unforeseen circumstances to torpedo City Hall’s budget. One such situation already emerged, making an unexpected $48,878 dent in the budget after an August power outage took out, among other things, the city’s communication capabilities. It was also a situation, Tymesen said, that couldn’t be remedied through grants.

“It’s almost impossible to get grant money after the fact,” he said of the generator, which failed after 51 years of service. “Going after grant money just wasn’t an option, unfortunately.”

Instead, that money came out of a fund in the Facilities Maintenance Division, which happened to have the extra money available because the city has not yet filled a vacant janitorial position. As it turns out, that expense is indicative of the city’s flexibility.

“The turnover in personnel is what really matters,” Tymesen said. “We try to keep turnover low, because it’s our biggest expense. Because we’ve been keeping turnover down, and because our department heads make sure to be careful with funds, we’re able to account for some of these emergencies, with no contingency built into the plan.”

“We have very expereinced department heads who are committed to doing a great job for the city,” Widmyer added. “They know they have to use the taxpayers’ dollars wisely to provide the best service.”