HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC PACKET 04082014 HANDOUT 1City of St. Anthony Village
3301 Silver Lake Road
St. Anthony, Minnesota 55418
ANNUAL REPORT
2013
This report is the
City of Saint Anthony
Village’s Finance Report
highlighting the activities
and advancements made
over the past year. The
information herein also
provides an overview of
the core functions, finance
activities, 2013 collaborative
efforts, the expansion and
use of technology, and the
enhancements to the City’s
long-term financial plan.
Finance
City of St. Anthony Village
3301 Silver Lake Road
St. Anthony, Minnesota 55418
Finance
ANNUAL REPORT
2013
Table of
Contents
I. Finance Overview ....................... 1
II. Core Accounting Functions .......... 2
III. Finance Activity Unique to 2013 .. 7
IV. Technological Advances .............. 9
V. Long Term Financial Management.
VI. Support Staff to Agencies .......... 11
VII. Summary .................................. 12
10
I. Finance Overview
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
1
The Finance Department administers the City of St. Anthony Village’s
finance activities, including the coordination and planning of all City
financial information. This Department provides cost effective financial
and management services to the City Council, City Departments, and
other governmental units. The Department consists of five employees.
I. Finance Overview
MISSION STATEMENT
Ensure that City resources and assets are
managed effectively to provide residents with the
City services desired and to sustain the City’s
infrastructure for current and future residents.
Robin HartfielPhuongmai Dang
Shelly Rueckert
Charlie Yunker
Sandy Simon
Finance Director
Senior Accountant
Office Support SpecialistUtility Billing ClerkLicense Permit Specialist
2 II. Core Accounting Functions
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
II. Core Accounting Functions
The core functions performed by the Finance Department are consistent with relevant legal and professional standards.
In addition to these core functions, Finance also suports services for bonding for infrastructure projects, investment
and cash flow management, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) reporting.
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UTILITY BILLING
The utility billing function includes the in-house processing of water/sewer billings. This
process includes calculation of water and sewer charges as well as management of
quarterly billing statements and receipts. Payments can be automatically deducted from
your checking or savings account. During 2013 the Utility Billing process included:
• Producing 9,268 Utility Bills
• Helping 140 new residents with establishing utility accounts
• Tracking the destination over 299,867,119 gallons of water pumped by Public
Work’s Water Division in 2013
GALLONS PUMPED
II. Core Accounting Functions
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
3
INTERNAL FINANCIAL REPORTING
The finance department has historically provided monthly
financial statements for the City’s General Fund and Liquor
operations. This process was enhanced in 2013 to provide
real time financial status to Department heads. Following up
on the 2012 conversion to Caselle Civic accounting software
the Finance department rolled out the “Dashboard” feature.
Through this module, Staff can search paid invoices for
payment details, coding information, and view their budget
versus actual status on a line item level or department wide
level at any point in time. Thereby allowing Department heads
to have the accurate and timely information they need and to
manage their resources efficiently.
LICENSE/PERMITS
This function provides billing and collection services for
building/remodeling permits and coordination of inspections
with the City Building Official. Annual fees and licenses as set
forth in the city ordinances are also processed using specialized
software.
PAYROLL
As part of the 2012 software conversion ADP was selected as
the City’s payroll service provider. This expanded the City’s
ability to provide accounting services for others as it allowed
for transitional options for outside entities. Additionally it
negated the tax filing risks connected to outside organizations.
In 2013 staff worked with ADP to download bi weekly payroll
transaction data into a formatted report that could be uploaded
into the Civic general ledger system. Additionally, the Finance
Department helped the Police Department transition to an Excel
based scheduling tool that can be viewed by officers via the
intra-net.
Upgrades in the future include down streaming the data input
to department levels, e-mail of pay stub, along with online
access to individual payroll information.
VENDOR PAYMENTS
The City processed 8,187 vendor invoices in 2013 which
generated 4,027 cash disbursements. The City’s largest
vendors (exclusive of Liquor Vendors) included the following:
4 II. Core Accounting Functions
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
GRANTS ADMINISTRATION
During 2013 City Staff continued to pursue Federal, State, and Local grants to provide additional funding support for
City projects, capital equipment needs and special operating initiatives.
• These awards total value was $1,628,678 in 2013
• Since 1999 the cumulative value of these awards has grown to reached $17,493,810 by12/31/2013
• Re-occurring grants for extra DWI enforcement and Inflow and infiltration mitigation were again received
Significant construction grants awarded in 2013 included the $1,209,000 grant from the Mississippi Watershed
Management Organization for a Regional Stormwater Treatment Project with construction anticipated to begin
late 2014. The City also was eligible for FEMA disaster aid related to the severe storm damage suffered in June
of 2013. The City applied for and was awarded $75,387 to help with the storm related costs. The Finance
department’s role in the grant process is the identification of eligible costs, tracking of costs and project status,
submitting properly documented reimbursement requests and following up for collections. The sequence of events
that took place in connection with securing FEMA assistance in costs related to the June severe weather event is
depicted below.
GRANTS THAT SAVE THE TAXPAYERS MONEY
1998 2013$0
$2,000,000
$4,000,000
$6,000,000
$8,000,000
$10,000,000
$12,000,000
$14,000,000
$16,000,000
$20,000,000
$18,000,000
Cash ReceivedStorm Damage
Response
Clean-Up
FEMA Reports
C U M U L A T I V E D O L L A R S S A V E D
II. Core Accounting Functions
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
5
ANNUAL FISCAL YEAR BUDGETS
All Minnesota cities establish annual budgets for a fiscal year that coincide with the calendar year. The City of St.
Anthony Village’s budget process kicks off in connection with the City’s annual goal setting session in January.
Public meetings and Staff meetings occur in late spring, when each department develops and submits requests
for the next year’s operating budget and the five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). From July through
September, the City Council holds a series of workshops to discuss the requested budgets and certifies it’s
preliminary levy. During the last quarter of the year the preliminary levy and overall levy continues to be vetted by
Staff and council. Public input again is sought prior to finalizing the budget and levy in late December. See process
workflow below:
• FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT AND
PLANNING (GOAL
SETTING).
• FINANCIAL PLANNING
WORK SESSION
• WORK SESSION
• PUBLIC HEARING/
PROVIDE
RESIDENTS WITH AN
OPPORTUNITY TO
HAVE INPUT IN THE
BUDGET PROCESS.
• WORK SESSION WITH
DEPARTMENT HEADS.
DISCUSSION ON
OPERATING BUDGET
& EVALUATE 5-YEAR
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT
NEEDS
• CITY MANAGER &
STAFF MEETINGS
TO DISCUSS/DRAFT
BUDGET
• DEPARTMENT HEADS,
COUNCIL, AND STAFF
TO REVIEW KEY
FINANCIAL PLAN
AND THE PROPOSED
GENERAL OPERATING
BUDGET; DISCUSSION
ON CAPITAL
EQUIPMENT BUDGETS
• PRESENTATION OF
THE PROPOSED
OPERATING BUDGET
& PROPERTY TAX LEVY
TO THE CITY COUNCIL
• SETTING THE
PROPOSED
OPERATING BUDGET
AND PRELIMINARY
PROPERTY TAX LEVY.
• ANNOUNCE THE DATE
AND TIME AT WHICH
THE FINAL BUDGET
AND TAX LEVY WILL
BE DISCUSSED.
• REVIEW AND CONFIRM
BUDGET PARAMETERS
AND ESTIMATES.
• PUBLIC HEARING FOR
THE ADOPTION OF
THE FINAL OPERATING
BUDGET AND
PROPERTY TAX LEVY.
January - February - March April - May - June July - August - September October - November - December
INSURANCE
The insurance function provides the appropriate insurance coverage and protection
for all aspects of City operations. The insurance coverage includes general liability,
liquor liability, property and casualty, auto, theft, business interruption, and workers
compensation.
The City takes advantage of the League’s loss control programs and its internal
Safety Committee as risk management tools.
The Finance Department confirms that the levels of coverage, lists of covered
property and factors used in liability rating are sufficient and accurate during the
annual renewal process. Any changes in property owned or additional liability
assumed is communicated to the League during the policy period. The City’s
workman’s compensation policy insured a total wage risk of 4.6 million. Property
and casualty coverage insured City assets with a cumulative replacement value of
27.4 million.
6 II. Core Accounting Functions
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
2014 TAX LEVY ESTABLISHED IN 2013
In preparing the 2014 budget, Staff continued its mission to maintain the existing level of City services and
programs with the use of financially conservative budgeting. Overall, the proposed 2014 General Operating Budget
represents an increase of $378,998 over last year’s budgeted amount. This increase is attributable to the City’s
scheduled receipt of $442,967 in Local Government Aid (LGA) in 2014 and offset by other net budget adjustments
of ($63,969). With the Council’s guidance, LGA was allocated in the following manner:
• 37% Unmet capital needs and reducing cost allocations to utility funds
• 25.5% Property Tax Relief, negating the impact certain annual cost factors
• 24.5% Addressing severance obligations, risk management
• 10% Property Tax Relief, supplanting decreases in revenues and other aids
• 3% Slowing growth of Road Levy
The LGA Distribution above resulted in a 0% increase in the General Fund Levy for 2014 and reduced the overall
Levy increase from 6.9% to 3.8%
LGA IMPACT ON OVERALL LEVY
6.9%
5.8%
5.0%
4.2%3.9%3.8%
Property
Tax Relief,
supplanting
decreases in
revenues and
other aids
Slowing
growth of
Road Levy
Addressing
severance
obligations,
risk
management
Property Tax
Relief, negating
the impact
certain annual
cost factors
Unmet capital
needs and
reducing cost
allocations to
utility funds
Reduction from
Previous Year 37%25.5%24.5%10%3%
III. Finance Activity Unique to 2013
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
7
III. Finance Activity Unique to 2013
LIQUOR FUND
The Liquor operations profits are a key resource in the City’s overall
financial plan. Unlike traditional government resources the revenue
stream provided by the Liquor operation is subject to greater
fluctuations due to market conditions, economy and seasonal demand.
Given this dynamitic the monthly sales for the past five years were
compiled for review. The sales data was charted to gauge impact
of the seasonality of sales on cash flow. The larger variances in
monthly sales occur during the back to school and year-end holiday’s
time frames. By gleaning this information the Finance Department
developed a tool to monitor the cash position of the Liquor fund.
This tool assists management in ensuring that there is adequate
cash available through-out the year for Stores working capital and
while projecting funds available for special projects and equipment
purchases for all city departments.
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
$400,000
$100,000
$450,000
$300,000
$500,000
$500,000
$550,000
$700,000
$600,000
$900,000
$650,000
$1,100,000
$700,000
$750,000
$850,000
$800,000
5 YEAR AVERAGE MONTHLY SALES VOLUME
LIQUOR FUND
Ending Cash Balance
Cash Ceiling
Cash Floor
8 III. Finance Activity Unique to 2013
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
INSURANCE COMMITTEE
A new committee was formed in 2013 whose primary focus will be employee benefits. The committee has a
member representing each city department, and meets on a semi-regular basis to informally discuss and exchange
ideas, listed to presentations from benefits providers, and help disseminate information to the rest of the staff.
The committee helped to spread the word on using an online open enrollment tool instead of paper forms, worked
with management on encouraging employees to move to high deductible health care plans with HSA components
to reduce costs and avoid future possible Cadillac Tax implications, and recommended a change in HSA provider
for better service.
ACCOUNTING PLATFORM FUNCTIONALITY
Building upon the work done to implement Caselle Civic, the finance department spent many hours implementing
incremental enhancements to processing routines. Furthermore the entire general ledger account structure was
redesigned. This required the review of over 3,900 account codes and descriptions. The result of this process
purged over 2,200 outdated account codes, and created 200 new accounts for greater clarity. The 1,700
remaining accounts were reformatted into a department based structure with meaningful descriptors and the
appropriate level of detail.
INTERNSHIP
Todd Robinson joined the Finance Department in the summer of 2013 as an intern while studying Accounting at
St. Cloud State University. He assisted in a number of projects including a mid-year budget versus actual analysis,
salary and benefits analysis, and preparing audit work papers for the City, as well as for the Mississippi Watershed
Management Organization.
Among Todd’s accomplishments was the detailed analysis of Liquor Operations that included compiling 5 years’
worth of historical data on sales, cost of goods sold, expenses, gross profit and net income.
OFFICE EXPANSION
The Finance Department spent many hours planning, designing and executing a remodel and expansion of the
department workspace in 2013. The accounting system conversion allowed for the retirement of a dedicated server
housed within the department, and the open office area was expanded into a portion of a little used hallway. Along
with new carpeting, extended service counter and new office furniture, the renovated office allows for improved flow
and presents residents with a clean and professional entrance to City Hall.
BEFORE AFTER
IV. Technological Advances
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
9
IV. Technological Advances
LIQUOR DATA TRANSFER
The accounting system conversion from ACS to Caselle Civic allowed for the ability to import data into the
system that would have previously had to be input by manual data entry. The finance department collaborated
with the Liquor Operation, their point-of-sale software vendor and a third party custom programmer to design
and implement an export function of the data needed to then import it into Caselle Civic, and remit payment.
Approximately 55% of invoices processed originate from the Liquor Operation. Subsequently, manual input of
those invoices took nearly a full work day to complete for each check run. By implementing this enhancement,
the time need for input went from roughly 6-7 hours to about 10 minutes.
DASHBOARD
As discussed earlier, the Finance Department rolled out the “Dashboard”
feature for the Department heads in 2013. Through this module, Staff
can search paid invoices for payment details and coding information, and
view their budget versus actual status on a line item level or department
wide level at any point in time. Thereby allowing Department heads to
have the accurate and timely information they need and to manage their
resources efficiently.
UTILITY BILLING
The Utility Billing module was interfaced with the General Ledger in early 2013. This allowed for the automatic
posting of utility transactions to the general ledger. Prior procedures required summarizing data monthly and
recording activity to general ledger by Journal entry. Late in 2013 the inclusion of return envelopes for ACH
customers was eliminated by adjusting bill printing parameters and procedure. Additional methods of accepting
payments will be reviewed in the upcoming year.
ANNUAL BUDGET DOCUMENT
The Budget document processing was further
reorganized in 2013. Prior to the 2013 Budget
document each page of was the budget document
was separate excel file or word document. The
2014 budget document is the second generation
of the reorganization efforts. The current document
consolidates all funds into a single excel files. This
allows a single point of data access and processing for
the 2013 Budget document. The second generation
of the process included the linking between tabs for
summaries, cross-referencing and powerpoint slide
production, resulting in the 2014 budget document.
The time invested to create comprehensive tool will
streamline the 2015 Budget production.
City of St. Anthony Village
3301 Silver Lake Road
St. Anthony, Minnesota 55418
www.ci.saint-anthony.mn.us City of
St. Anthony
ANNUAL BUDGET
2014
The 2014 Annual Budget is
a document that provides
the financial framework for
the City’s operations in the
upcoming year. It helps to
ensure that the City’s resources
are used in a cost effective
manner to maintain City
services and to provide for
long term-capital needs. The
information herein includes
detail budgets for the City’s
general operating fund, special
revenue funds, capital funds,
debts service funds and overall
budget information.
10 V. Long Term Financial Management
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
V. Long Term Financial Management
The City includes its Financial Management Policy in the Annual Budget document which is available on its website at
ww.ci.saint-anthony.mn.us under HOT TOPICS. Keeping with Policy directives the City Council and Staff jointly reviewed
the larger and long term components of its current operations. These reviews and results are summarized below.
• Debt service study of street debt service funds
• Recalculating future construction costs
• Evaluating Streets reconstruction dates
• Identifying additional resources for the streets program
“PEAK TO PLATEAU”
City Council and Staff held workshops to review progress on the City’s Street improvement program and the options
available for the ten years remaining. This analysis included:
The process resulted in a reaffirmation of the scheduled reconstruction dates. Additional resources were identified and
assigned to managing the year to year increase in the Road Debt Levy. The Street Levy reduction plan as developed
will lower the unchecked high point of the levy until the point the City benefits from prior road debt retirement. Thus
replacing a peaking levy with a plateauing levy as demonstrated by the graph below.
V.I Support Staff to Agencies
2013 Annual Report · Publc Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
11
• Trends in operating costs
• Historical data regarding water consumption
• Allocations of administrative costs to utility funds
• Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Charges
STRUCTURAL BALANCED UTILITY FUNDS
Council and Staff moved the annual practice of reviewing existing Utility rates into late fall. Rates are reviewed to
determine if rate adjustments are required to cover operating and infrastructure costs. Factors used in this analysis
include:
The result of this process was rate adjustments that are projected to balance the Utility Fund operating revenues
with operating expenses. The chart below was included in staff presentation of rate adjustments in the November
12th, 2013 Council Meeting.
V.I Support Staff to Agencies
UTILITY BILLING SERVICES
City of Birchwood Village
• Quarterly billing of Utility accounts
• Final billing for residents leaving City of Birchwood
• Account set-up for new residents
• Processing of UB payments
• Summary reports of billings and collections
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014No Increase With Increase Estimate20142015
$1,550,000
$1,400,000
$1,670,000
$1,750,000
$1,830,000
$1,910,000
$1,590,000
$1,630,000
$1,710,000
$1,790,000
$1,870,000
$1,950,000
12 VII. Summary
2013 Annual Report · Public Works Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota
VII. Summary
2013 was a year defined by transitions, investing in technologies to improve core functions, long term
financial planning efforts and building upon the City’s storied track record as a collaborative partner. The
Finance department strives to be involved in creating successful outcomes for both its external and internal
costumers. This is made possible by the support our department receives from the City Council, City Manager,
and all City Departments. The collaborative culture here at Saint Anthony is alive and well and we are pleased
to be a participant!
The MWMO general ledger was converted from Peachtree to Civic software in late 2012. During 2013 CIty
Staff held joint meetings with MWMO management and Software providers to develop a more effective
account code structure for the organization three operating funds. The new structure development focused on
an activity code feature within Civic. This will reduce the number general ledger accounts generated each year
and yield efficient reporting. The implementation of the new account structure is projected for 2014.
ACCOUNTING SERVICES
Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
• Weekly processing of payables
• Bi-weekly processing of payroll
• Maintenance of General Ledger
• Manage annual Audit process