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FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -4- <br />December 6, 2004 <br />Truth in Taxation Hearing (continued) <br />Mr. Lageson said he noticed there is a part-time accounting intern. It looks like they did a little <br />bit of work in 2003. In 2004, $6,000 was budgeted. Did something change at some point that <br />we needed to have additional accounting help? Finance Director Olson said the workload was <br />too excessive and he was looking for another job. He asked specifically for some relief and the <br />best part-time relief that could take place was, in his opinion, an accounting intern from the <br />Carlson School of Management. The applicant that he got for 2004 was absolutely superb. They <br />come from the Carlson School of Management with the most up to date spreadsheet knowledge, <br />word processing knowledge, access knowledge, etc. The first one had a GPA of 3.8 and the one <br />he has now has a GPA of 3.999. He is graduating and has a landed terrific j ob. They are <br />absolutely the best people and bring such a knowledge base to the City, plus they are extremely <br />dedicated. <br />Administrator Worthington said she wanted to mention that in 2003, the City didn't have an <br />accounting intern. That position was added. Also, the City was making the transition to the <br />GASB 34 statement, a Federal mandate, which required a total overhaul of the way the City <br />keeps track of its finances. Falcon Heights was the second City in the State to comply with <br />GASB 34. Mayor Gehrz said GASB 34 is one of those unfunded mandates required by the <br />Federal government because someone messed up in California. Everyone has to pay the price <br />and it has been a huge time consuming venture for the City to shift everything to a whole <br />different system. Mr. Lageson asked if this is something that will probably continue and he was <br />told yes. Mayor Gehrz said the main reason the City wanted to jump on this and not delay was <br />because the City had just brought its infrastructure-streets, sewers and everything up to a point <br />where it was a good time to start making the accounting changes required by GASB, rather than <br />wait for a few more years and then get into all of the additional complications of how you value <br />your infrastructure for accounting proposes. Finance Director Olson said that Falcon Heights is <br />two to three years ahead of the other cities in the State. They have to comply this year. Mr. <br />Lageson commented that he thinks it's good sometimes for the television audience to hear this. <br />Council member Talbot suggested that this might be a good time to mention the accounting <br />awards the City has received. Administrator Worthington said that for eleven years, the City has <br />received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the <br />Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. <br />Mr. Lageson asked about Election Expenses-Repair of Equipment. It looks like the City has <br />signed a contract to repair equipment. Who is the contract with and how many machines does <br />the City own? Was this buried in the budget before? .Administrator Worthington said that it <br />wasn't buried in the budget; it is the result of purchasing new voting machines in 2002 as part of <br />a consortium of Ramsey County cities. The City leases two machines on contract from Ramsey <br />county and there is a budget line item for repair and maintenance. <br />4 <br />