At the halfway point through the 2013 budget, the City of Renton is in pretty good shape.

According to a report given to the City Council’s Finance Committee, the city is on pace to finish the year spending less than expected and bringing in slightly more revenue than planned.

As of the end of June, the city is showing revenues at $1.6 million, or 3.1 percent over budget.

“The city’s budget is on the right track,” said Administrator Services Administrator Iwen Wang.

According to Senior Finance Analyst Hai Nguyen, revenues from property taxes, sales taxes, permit fees, shared state revenue and others are all coming in at a higher-than-budgeted rate.

Sales tax appears to be the primary driver, coming in at $640,000 more than planned. According to Nguyen, the main reason is the purchase of building and construction materials for planned expansions at Boeing, though even when that money is removed, the city still comes out ahead by about $200,000.

According to the report, sales-tax collection in the city has totaled $9.9 million so far this year, or 10 percent more than last year and 7 percent higher than budgeted.

Building permits and development service fees are also up this year, due again to building projects from Boeing and the city. At the midway point, the city is nearly $700,000 over budget predictions, though the report notes the city is projecting to meet the budget at year’s end.

Wang was quick to point out that building trends, while positive, are cyclical and they were cautious not to count on these revenues as “normal,” though she called it a “new, good trend.”

The city’s share of state-shared revenue is also coming in higher than expected and contributed $290,000 more than budgeted so far this year, though below last year’s numbers.

So far in 2013, the city has received $2.2 million in shared revenues, down from $2.4 million over the same time last year but still higher than budgeted.

Criminal justice sales tax is higher than expected and the city’s low budgeting of criminal justice high-crime money have led to the black lines in the ledger thus far.

In addition, the city has received $423,000 in liquor profits from the state, above the $348,000 expected, but below the $506,000 collected last year by this time.

But while the overall revenue picture is rosier than expected, not every fund is performing as well as budgeted.

The city’s utility fund, for example, is bringing in lower-than-expected revenues so far this year, which Nguyen attributed to a mild winter and spring, resulting in lower-than-expected usage of electricity and natural gas.

So far this year, utility tax revenues are about $8 million, or 4 percent lower than expected.

Gambling tax revenues are also down this year. The numbers are skewed by two businesses that have not yet paid the city, though an agreement to pay in full by year’s end is in the works. However, even then Nguyen said there has been “lower activity” than in the past and predicted revenues would probably be slightly down over the full year.

On the expenditure side, the city is also performing well. So far this year, only a few departments are over budget, while overall only 47 percent of the budgeted amount has been spent at the halfway point.

The City Council department is over by 0.6 percent, or $804, so far while the fire department is over by 0.4 percent, due primarily to overtime and supplies.

In addition, the Administrative Services department is over budget at this point, but Nguyen said it is due to the timing of voters registration expenses, which were paid in July last year but in June this year.

In total, the city is still $947,000, or 1.4 percent, under budget on spending.

“Overall we’re showing a favorable balance,” Ngyuen said.

“Through everyone’s good work. we’re on the right track,” Wang added.

The council committee also reviewed the mid-quarter budget amendment and moved on to the full council, where it received a first reading Monday.

Primary changes in the second-quarter amendment are an increase of $1.5 million in the Cedar River Library Fund budget to bring it in line with the “maxiumum contract amount,” based on council action April 29, and the incorporation of grants and the associated expenditures, such as the streetlight conversion program to move the city’s high-pressure sodium lights to light-emitting diode, or LED bulbs.