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SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies. The significant accounting policies used by the City are described in Note 1 of the notes to basic financial statements. No new accounting policies were adopted, and the application of existing policies was not changed during the year. We noted no transactions entered into by the City during the year for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus. All significant transactions have been recognized in the financial statements in the proper period. ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND MANAGEMENT JUDGMENTS Accounting estimates are an integral part of the financial statements prepared by management and are based on management's knowledge and experience about past and current events and assumptions about future events. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to the financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting them may differ significantly from those expected. The most sensitive estimates affecting the financial statements were: • Depreciation — Management's estimates of depreciation expense are based on the estimated useful lives of the assets. • Pension Benefits — The City has recorded liabilities and activity for pension benefits. Actuarial estimates of the net pension balances are calculated using actuarial methodologies described in Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 68. The actuarial calculations include significant assumptions, including projected changes, investment returns, retirement ages, proportionate share, and employee turnover. Compensated Absences — Management's estimate is based on current rates of pay, unused compensated absence balances, and the likelihood that unused balances will ultimately be paid out at termination. We evaluated the key factors and assumptions used by management to develop these accounting estimates in determining that they are reasonable in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole. Certain financial statement disclosures are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statement users. The disclosures included in the notes to the basic financial statements related to pension benefits are particularly sensitive, due to the materiality of the liabilities, and the large and complex estimates involved in determining the disclosures. The financial statement disclosures are neutral, consistent, and clear. DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN PERFORMING THE AUDIT We encountered no significant difficulties in dealing with management in performing and completing our audit. CORRECTED AND UNCORRECTED MISSTATEMENTS Professional standards require us to accumulate all known and likely misstatements identified during the audit, other than those that are clearly trivial, and communicate them to the appropriate level of management. Management has corrected all such misstatements. In addition, none of the misstatements detected as a result of audit procedures and corrected by management were material, either individually or in the aggregate, to each opinion unit's financial statements taken as a whole. -2-