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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—JUNE 25, 2012 2 Mr. Hedberg announced that these programs have been in existence for a number of years and represent the highest level of top-quality budget and financial reporting documents available to the public and financial reporting industry. To earn these certificates, the City of Arden Hills must conform to demanding criteria and only those reports judged by all reviewers to have met the program's criteria receive recognition. This is not the first time the City has received these awards. In fact, it is the third consecutive year for the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and the fifth consecutive year for the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting and Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting awards. Mr. Hedberg indicated that such a record is a reflection of a high degree of dedication and leadership by Mayor and City Council and of the Director of Finance and Administrative Services Sue Iverson and the Finance Department staff. All deserve recognition for receiving these awards. In Minnesota, 96 other Cities have received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, 20 have received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award and only three others have received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting. Mayor Grant thanked Mr. Hedberg for his presentation and recognized the Director of Finance and Administrative Services Sue Iverson and her staff for the high quality work they do for the City. B. 2011 Audit Presentation Mr. Aaron Nielson of Malloy, Montague, Kamowski, Radosevich, & Co., P.A. (MMKR) presented the 2011 Audit Report. He stated the City's 2011 Financial Statements have been completed and submitted to the State Auditor and the Government Finance Officers Association, and the auditors have issued an unqualified ("clean") opinion on the City's financial statements ending December 31, 2011. The City has completed the report in the form prescribed by the GFOA for their Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. In order to qualify for this, the report has to be published in an easily readable and efficiently organized Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) that satisfies both accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and applicable legal requirements. Due to strict audit standards, many Cities experience findings. Only one material weakness has been cited for the City of Arden Hills, and that is in regard to limited "Segregation of Duties" which is not uncommon for organizations the size of Arden Hills. Councilmember Holmes questioned the PowerPoint slide containing information on tax capacity rates. She asked if it means that our City taxes are really low. Mr. Nielson replied that there are a lot of factors that go into it, but the City average tax rate is below the average. The City receives less revenue per capita than other Cities in the same population class and those are the numbers that are being compared. Councilmember Holmes inquired if she was looking at the chart correctly. The average person in Arden Hills paid $305 to the City in property taxes per month in 2011 and the average person in other Cities paid$50 to $80 more.