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12 III. Finance Activity Unique to 2014 <br />2014 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota <br />ACCOUNTING SERVICES EXPANSION <br />The Finance Department began providing basic accounting services <br />to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) in <br />the summer of 2012 consisting of payroll, accounts payable, general <br />ledger maintenance and oversight of the annual audit process. In <br />late 2014 the Finance Department proposed an expansion of the <br />scope of the services to include day to day management of cash <br />and investments, internal and external fi nancial reporting, and <br />assisting the Executive Director in the defi ning fund balance policies. <br />On site staff - hours were created to work closely with the MWMO <br />staff eff ectively to meet these added responsibilities. This grew the <br />charges for fi nancial services by $18,000 on an annualized basis. <br />FIRE RELIEF ASSOCIATION <br />During 2014 the Finance Department assisted the Saint Anthony <br />Fire Relief Association (SAFR) with selecting a new auditing fi rm and <br />with the completion of its annual audit. The City Finance Director <br />attends relief association meetings when budget, benefi t levels <br />and investment strategies are agenda topics. This provides the <br />Relief Association additional support to make informed decisions on <br />managing pension assets. The SAFR pension plan was 116% funded <br />at 12/31/2014. The Finance Department and SAFR plan to continue <br />this cooperative approach established. <br />POST-EMPLOYMENT HEALTH CARE <br />SAVINGS PLAN <br />The St. Anthony Fire Department established a post-employment <br />health care savings plan for its department’s benefi ts-eligible <br />employees in 2004. In 2014, the St. Anthony Police Department <br />sought to expand on the program to include their benefi ts eligible <br />employees. The Finance Department assisted with the process of <br />establishing eligibility for the unionized Police Department staff , and <br />full participation in the plan became eff ective with the 2015-2016 <br />LEF #186 contracts. The Public Works Union soon followed suit <br />implementing a post-employment plan shortly before year end. With <br />the creation of these plans the employee’s receive the benefi t of tax <br />free dollars for future medical costs while the City sheds the payroll <br />tax expense previously related to these severance liabilities.