2016 CAFR - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF ST. ANTHONY, MINNESOTA NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS December 31, 2016 and depreciation on capital assets. All revenues and expenses not meeting this definition are reported as nonoperating revenues and expenses. When both restricted and unrestricted resources are available for an allowable use, it is the City’s policy to use restricted resources first, then unrestricted resources as they are needed. D. BUDGETS Budgets are legally adopted on a basis consistent with generally accepted accounting principles. Annual appropriated budgets are legally adopted for the General and all Special Revenue Funds. Budgeted expenditure appropriations lapse at year end. Encumbrance accounting, under which purchase orders, contracts and other commitments for the expenditure of monies are recorded in order to reserve that portion of the appropriation, is not employed by the City because it is at present not considered necessary to assure effective budgetary control or to facilitate effective cash management. E. LEGAL COMPLIANCE - BUDGETS The City follows these procedures in establishing the budgetary data reflected in the financial statements: 1) The City Manager submits to the City Council a proposed operating budget for the upcoming year in August. The operating budget includes proposed revenues and expenditures and the operating levy associated with operations. 2) The City Council and staff meet to review the proposed budget and Council recommends any appropriate changes. 3) Public hearings are conducted in April and December to obtain taxpayer comments and recommendations to the operating budget. 4) The budget and tax levy is legally enacted through the passage of a resolution on a department basis for the General Fund and on a fund basis for Special Revenue and Enterprise Funds that can be expended by each department based upon detailed budget estimates. 5) The City Manager and Finance Director are authorized to transfer appropriations within any department budget. Interdepartmental or interfund appropriations and deletions are authorized by the City Council with fund contingency reserves or additional revenues. 6) Formal budgetary integration is employed as a management control device during the year for the General Fund, Special Revenue, Capital Equipment and Enterprise Funds. The General Fund, Special Revenue Funds and Enterprise Funds all have Council adopted annual budgets. 7) Legal debt obligation indentures determine the appropriation level of debt service tax levies for the Debt Service Funds. Supplementary budgets are adopted for the Proprietary Funds to determine and calculate user charges. These debt service and budget amounts represent general obligation bond indenture provisions and net income for operation and capital maintenance and are not reflected in the financial statements. 8) A capital improvement program is reviewed annually by the City Council for the Capital Project Funds. However, appropriations for major projects are not adopted until the actual bid award of the improvement. The appropriations are not reflected in the financial statements. 9) The legal level of budgetary control is at the department level for the General Fund and the fund level for the Special Revenue Funds. Monitoring of budgets is maintained at the expenditure 42