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Attachment B <br />Commission would recommend for surplus cash from a budgetary standpoint and if the trends <br />for each account would be lost in this type of transition. <br />Chair Schroeder stated these would be things the Commission could talk more about if they <br />decided to move forward with the discussion. <br />Finance Director Miller stated this is a long-term dilemma of taking a complex system and <br />simplifying it for others to understand. The City has struggled with this and realizes there are <br />limitations on how far they can go. There are restricted funds, funds for transparency purposes, <br />and management purposes and the City keeps these separated because the City wants to track <br />revenue and expenditures separately and hold people accountable for managing their projects and <br />budgets. If the account is created as Chair Schroeder is stating, then this would create a <br />mechanism for the City to use funds that were raised for a specific purpose to be used for <br />something else. This would be a change for the current culture and mindset of the City. <br />Commissioner Bachhuber stated the City would be good stewards if they did use these funds in <br />other areas that may need it rather than leaving it in a fund that does not need it and raising taxes <br />to cover the needs in another area. <br />Finance Director Miller stated this would impact the accountability because if a department is <br />working hard to manage and reduce costs the City would use those excess funds for another <br />purpose versus something the department is working towards. <br />Commissioner Murray stated changing the way things are reported makes comparing financial <br />statements more difficult. <br />Commissioner Hodder stated the number of funds that could be included in this type of fund <br />would be limited to those that are not restricted and this would reduce the amount of funds <br />available for other areas and would only reflect the non-restricted funds surplus or deficit. <br />Commissioner Zeller stated this would be a big change in how the City reports and they could <br />look at the General Fund to get this same information without having to do the transferring. <br />Chair Schroeder stated this could be added to a future agenda for additional discussion and <br />consideration. <br />Review Budget Comment Card Content & Layout <br />Finance Director Miller stated the Communications staff had put together the information that <br />was sent out. The Council will determine if the City will send another comment card in 2017. <br />He asked the Commission if there would be a better way to package and send out the information <br />and comment card. In 2016 the comment card was included with the budget information and on <br />the City’s website. <br /> <br />