TITLE
The Mayor and City Council shall hear a presentation by Tom Duensing, Finance Director, regarding the City’s mid-year financial review.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
This mid-year financial forecast, or five-year forecast, is a review of the City’s two primary operating funds, the General Fund and the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF). Staff will seek Council feedback on 1) utilizing a methodology to address the General Fund structural deficit over the next few years, 2) proceeding with accounting changes to the Debt Service and Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Funds and 3) proceeding with the operating budget.
The City’s General Fund is the chief operating fund of the City. Currently, the General Fund accounts for most operating activities of the City and the portion of CIP activities that are not accounted for in dedicated CIP funds. The HURF Fund accounts for the City’s share of state “gasoline taxes” and distribution is based on City's population compared to the county-wide population.
As most of the City operational costs are funded from the General and HURF funds, it is important that the Mayor and Council are continually informed about the financial status of the funds now and into the future. Additionally, this presentation will provide the guidance needed to set the budgetary parameters for departments’ operational budgetary requests. Finally, as part of the annual budget process, staff will be updating this forecast and presenting it to the Mayor and Council annually.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
General Fund - FY11-12 Revised Estimates
The General Fund accounts for the vast majority of the City’s operating costs such as police and fire protection, parks and recreation, development services and other City functions. Approximately 90% of the General Fund revenues, totalling $27.3 million, consist of local taxes and intergovernmental revenues. Local taxes consist of property and local sales taxes estimated at $16.3 million in the current fiscal year...
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