07-10-2013 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JULY 10, 2013 CANADIAN Blesener pointed out that the 2013 Canadian Celebration will be held DAYS August 2"d through 4111. The City's website has a schedule of events. Blesener also noted that Canadian Days buttons can be purchased at the City Center as well as at several local businesses. NEW PUBLIC Blesener announced that the City recently purchased the former Brings WORKS Onion property as a new Public Works garage site. He noted that the GARAGE City has been looking for a site for a new facility for several years, and SITE the former Brings property is a good location for this facility. 2012 AUDIT Peggy Moeller, HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd., City Auditors, appeared PRESENTATION before the Council and presented the 2012 Audit. The reports issued relative to the Audit include the City's Annual Financial Report, Report on Internal Control, Communication With Those Charged With Governance, and State Legal Compliance Report. With regard to the Annual Financial Report, Moeller noted that Tautges Redpath is issuing a clean opinion on the 2012 financial statements. Moeller then reviewed the City debt pointing out that total bonded debt at the end of 2012 amounted to $6,425,000. She pointed out that bonded debt decreased by $2,005,000 from 2011 due to annual bond payments and the early retirement of some improvement bonds. It was noted that bond payments are being made with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proceeds as well as assessment and HIA payments, and not with property tax dollars. Moeller reported that the General Fund balance at the end of 2012 was $2,647,655 and noted that revenues exceeded budgeted amounts and expenditures were under budget. This coupled with a transfer out of the General Fund resulted in a surplus of $208,930. Moeller indicated that the variances are more a function of how the City budgets. As an example, Moeller noted that the City accounted for the Ramsey County Sheriff expense and related service credits in a different manner than was presented in the audit. This resulted in both refunds and reimbursement (revenue) and police protection (expense) being over budget and fine revenue being under budget. The net effect of the differences contributes to the increase in fund balance. Moeller reviewed the City's policy relative to the General Fund's minimum unassigned fund balance. The City's reserve policy calls for reserves between 42.5% and 65% of the General Fund, with funds in excess of 65% to be available for transfers to other funds, which have historically been the General Capital Improvement Fund. Moeller noted that the General Fund unassigned fund balance at the end of 2012 is at 86.2 %. The City Administrator noted that 2