2002-05-22 WS Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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o City of Centerville March 29, 2002 Page Eleven Agency Funds The City does not maintain a detailed reconciliation of its escrow accounts. This needs completion to ensure the City bills the account for all appropriate charges obtained from the finance system. We recommend that all escrow accounts be reconciled on a monthly basis to the finance system. Building Fee Reporting Requirement The 2001 Legislature provided for law MS 16B.685 which requires all municipalities to file an annual construction and development-related fee report to the Department of Administration. The first report will be due April I , 2003 and will cover the year ended December 31, 2002. The content of the report will be as follows: 1. The number and valuation of units for which fees were paid. 2. The amount of building permit fees, plan review fees, administrative fees, engineering fees, infrastructure fees and other construction and development related fees. 3. The expenses associated with the municipal activities for which fees were collected. The first two items have always been available while the third may require additional effort to report the most accurate information. Most cities have not allocated indirect costs to the Building Department. Some consideration of all the costs directly and indirectly related to providing Building Department services will help the City report the most accurate information. It doesn't appear that there is a consequence to reporting profitable operations but this information could be used for further lobbying efforts and legislation aimed at restricting the amount of the fees. If needed, we are prepared to provide assistance in completing the form. Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements. and Management's Discussion and Analysis - for State and Local Governments GASB Statement No. 34 is the result of an almost decade-long effort by GASB to reexamine the financial reporting model for state and local govermnents. The most notable change is the presentation of a set of highly aggregated, "full accrual" financial statements. At the same time, however, the Statement retains many familiar features of current govermnental fmancial reporting, in particular fund-based financial statements. State and local govermnental financial statement preparers and auditors will need to comprehend and implement a vast number of changes in accounting and financial reporting. They will have to explain those changes to perwns who are unfamiliar with the particulars of accounting, much less the unique area of state and local govermnental accounting. The following are some specific areas that need to be addressed with the implementation of this new statement: Timeline GASB Statement No. 34 is effective in three phases based on the total annual revenues of the primary govermnent's governmental and proprietary funds, although earlier application is encouraged. For this purpose, revenues include all revenues except for other financing sources and certain extraordinary items. The total annual revenues of the City for 1999 were $3,210,443. Based on this calculation, the City is considered to be phase 3. Therefore, the City is required to implement GASB Statement No. 34 for the calendar year ending 2004. Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) MD&A gives an objective and easily readable analysis of a govermnent's financial activities based on currently known facts, decisions, or conditions. It presents short- and long-term analyses of the government's activities, compares current-year results with those of the prior year, and discusses the positive and negative aspects of that comparison.