2015 Vol. 9 Issue 4 June - Laserfiche WebLink

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Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 Audit of City Finances from 2014 Completed, all is well On the expense side, auditors noted a decrease in Public Safety and Public Works expenditures and an increase in Conservation and Development expenditures. Financial statements and the required State Auditor Reporting forms will now be submitted to the applicable state agencies before the June 30 deadline. Road Construction Fun Coming to Gem Lake (Continued from page 1) the portion of I-35-E from Little Canada Road into St. Paul has been in progress for a couple of years and is scheduled to be complete by the end of this year. Many people travel this portion of Goose Lake Road as a shortcut into Vadnais Heights and Shoreview, but alternate routes will be needed. Highway 96 and County Road E will be open as alternates, but remember these are already very heavily traveled routes. Patience and planning ahead will be key to coping with the Goose Lake Road closure. For updates on all MNDOT projects, please visit www.dot.state.mn.us. The photos show the location of the Goose Lake Road closure (page one) and the current deterioration of the bridges. (see below) Gem Lake's 2014 audit is now complete and the results are fairly standard. City Council Members were given a complete presentation of the results at the June 16th City Council Meeting. The audit was conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, who also did the 2013 and 2012 audits. According to CliftonLarsonAllen, the result was what is called an unmodified report, which is good. Auditors found that the financial statements of Gem Lake presented fairly in all material respects the true financial position of the city. Management judgments and accounting estimates were considered reasonable and supported. Disclosures were deemed to be clear and complete. According to Christopher Knopik, a Manager of CliftonLarsonAllen, no difficulties were encountered in performing the audit. “In fact, management was most cooperative and helpful. We found that personnel and records were available.” They also noted that city finances are in good shape, with a healthy general fund balance in reserve for city expenses. The Minnesota Office of the State Auditor recommends that cities have no less than six months of operating income in reserve. Gem Lake is more than on target here, having approximately 11 months of operating funds in the general fund. They also found that tax revenues were consistent with the budget. There was a decrease in license and permit revenue, but all other revenue categories were fairly consistent.