City of Columbia, Missouri  
Meeting Minutes - Final  
Finance Advisory and Audit Committee  
City Hall  
Conference Room  
1A/1B  
Monday, December 15, 2025  
Regular  
1:00 PM  
701 E. Broadway  
Columbia, MO.  
I. CALL TO ORDER  
Chair, Maria Oropallo called the meeting to order at approximately 1:04 p.m.  
Staff present: Matthew Lue, Jim McDonald, Deepayan Debnath, Nancy Thompson and  
Kristina Wolf  
Guests present: John Conway and Mike Murphy  
6 -  
Present:  
Absent:  
Kristian Bloom, Maria Oropallo, Randy Minchew, Peter Schneeberger, Ryan Euliss  
and Jeff Shockley  
1 - Brian Toohey  
II. INTRODUCTIONS  
None.  
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA  
Motion to approve the agenda made by Schneeberger, seconded by Shockley;  
motion carries.  
IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  
November 17, 2025 Draft FAAC Minutes  
Attachments: November 17, 2025 DRAFT FAAC Minutes  
Motion to approve the November 17, 2025 minutes made by Oropallo, seconded  
by Shockley; motion carries.  
V. OLD BUSINESS  
Continued Discussion of Budget Categories  
Board members and staff discussed how the budget is presented and the creation of  
more categories. Also discussed was the possibility of breaking out expenditures and  
revenue to present a clearer picture of the budget.  
Financial Report on MRF  
No Report. Jim McDonald indicated he would check on this and let the board know.  
Status of Public Safety Pension Discussions  
Staff indicated they recently had a meeting on December 12 and will discuss at the next  
meeting more about the potential move to LAGERS. Staff indicated that negotiations  
begin in January then discussions with the Fire and Police Pension Board will occur in  
March. McDonald mentioned the Fire and Police Pension Board meets quarterly on the  
2nd Friday of each month.  
VI. NEW BUSINESS  
Status of Investment Accounts  
Oropallo indicated board members would like to see regular reports on investment  
accounts. Lue said these reports are close to being able to be generated and can be  
shared in the monthly reports to Council. Lue also mentioned that this information would  
be and/or is available on the Finance website page.  
Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Status & Highlights  
Ashley White, Controller, indicated the ACFRA auditors are on site and will stay for about  
a week.  
Humane Society Building Project  
Oropallo asked for clarification regarding funding for this project. Lue indicated that the  
City cannot give charitable contributions, but rather it would need to be a contract for  
service.  
VII. REPORTS  
Monthly Economic Report  
Attachments: November Monthly Economic Report  
Deepayan discussed the monthly economic report. See summary below:  
• Over the past three months, the country has experienced a steady rise in  
unemployment. In September, the national unemployment rate went up by 0.12% to  
4.44% compared to August 2025.  
• However, the unemployment rate in Columbia decreased by 0.35 percentage points in  
August, reaching 4.11%. Similarly, Missouri’s unemployment rate declined by 0.18  
percentage points to 4.48% during this period.  
• The Federal Reserve cut the interest rate by 25 basis points at its two consecutive  
meetings, lowering the interest rate range from 4.25-4.50% in September to 3.75-4.00%  
in October.  
• Due to the federal government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was  
unable to produce consumer inflation for the month of October. BLS cannot measure  
inflation retrospectively; therefore, there is no new CPI data.  
• In September 2025, the median home price in Boone County had no increase compared  
to last year. However, it did decrease by 5.71% over the last month. The median home  
price in September was $330,000, which was $50,100 higher than the median price in  
Missouri.  
• During the same period, Boone County home sales totaled 165 - an annual increase of  
13.01%.  
• Sales tax collections in November (September tax period) totaled around $5.41 million,  
while use tax collections came to $940,008, respectively, 0.85% ($46,532) and 22.08%  
($266,325) lower than those of the same month last year.  
• As FY 2025 ends, the City of Columbia’s total sales and use tax collections are around  
$63.4 million and $10.5 million, respectively. Total sales and use tax collection in FY  
2025 has slightly declined by $515,953 (-0.69%) compared to FY 2024.  
• Marijuana-related excise tax collection in November (September tax period) was  
$81,309. The total collections for FY 2025 are $764,079, representing a 13.50% decrease  
from last year.  
Monthly Finance Report  
Attachments: Council Memo  
Quarterly Report 4th Qtr 2025  
Lue discussed the monthly finance report. Lue indicated he is currently putting together a  
report to finalize numbers and this should be ready by February. He indicated he may be  
able to present to this to the board prior to presenting council depending how soon it is  
completed.  
VIII. GENERAL COMMENTS BY PUBLIC, MEMBERS AND STAFF  
Shockley asked if the City utilizes an internal auditor to which Lue indicated yes, we do  
utilize Rubin Brown to address issues or items that could use improvements.  
Schneeberger asked if the City is doing a cost of service study and Lue indicated the City  
is currently working on this.  
Members discussed getting Rubin Brown to attend and present reports at FAAC  
meetings regularly.  
Shockley asked if the City has a way to look at how many clicks/people have visited the  
budget book. Debnath indicated yes.  
Oropallo asked what the latest update regarding staffing in Finance. Lue indicated Megan  
Montesinos is the new budget officer and are looking to fill her position. There is also a  
Senior Accountant position open and we are hoping to hire the AP/AR person soon and  
have an offer out.  
IX. NEXT MEETING DATE  
January 20, 2026  
X. ADJOURNMENT  
Shockley made a motion to adjourn at approximately 2:07 p.m., seconded by  
Schneeberger; motion carries.