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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, May 8, 2023 <br /> Page 5 <br /> Councilmember Etten wondered how the billing error falls under the City's internal <br /> controls because it was not caught in 2021-2022 by City staff, it was caught by an <br /> outside consultant. <br /> Ms. Peterson explained the City engages professional consultants to help in certain <br /> ways and from Redpath's perspective, sometimes there is the internal capacity to <br /> do certain things and sometimes the City needs to hire consultants for that. She <br /> indicated City staff did not identify it right away, but it was identified through the <br /> processes that City staff initiated. <br /> Councilmember Schroeder asked if the Council has questions on the audit at a <br /> future time should the Council go through the City's Finance Director or should the <br /> Council contact Ms. Peterson directly. <br /> Ms. Peterson explained she is happy to stand for questions and after the meeting <br /> she thought the Council could contact the City Finance Department who can then <br /> send the questions her way if there is something that cannot be answered or if the <br /> Council would like to talk to her directly about a question, she is open to that as <br /> well. <br /> Public Comment <br /> Mayor Roe offered an opportunity for public comment. <br /> Mr. Roger Hess, Wagener Place <br /> Mr. Hess assumed the City has about fifty million dollars in investments and he <br /> wondered if that was typical for a City of this size. He also wondered if the rate of <br /> return is greater than what the City is paying out in interest on the outstanding <br /> bonds. He also asked if the internal controls were good enough that if half a million <br /> dollars or eight hundred thousand dollars is missing from a fund, the City would <br /> know that. <br /> Finance Director Michelle Pietrick explained with regard to investments, the City <br /> has cash and investments and an overnight sweep account for the checking account, <br /> so every night cash is swept out of the checking account into an investment, a <br /> mutual fund, to earn interest on absolutely everything the City has. With regard to <br /> the earnings, the evaluation is at a point in time, which was December 31, 2022, <br /> which resulted in an unrealized loss. The City holds investments until maturity and <br /> the annual performance staff has benchmarked at a five year treasury and a ten year <br /> treasury, the City was trending below that treasury mark as of yearend. She <br /> explained that as investments mature, now that the yield curve on short term has <br /> grown significantly,the City is rolling investments into shorter term investments to <br /> gain yield and also to position the City going forward so if the market changes the <br /> City can gain yield on the investments. With regard to whether the earning exceed <br />