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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes BOC 041905BUDGET OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE April 19, 2005 Minutes The Budget Oversight Committee met on April 19. 2005 in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex, located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. I. ROLL CALL Present: John Chaplik, Martin Cohen and Maureen Maquire Also Present: Allan Owens, Staff Liaison and Finance Administrator, Mary Anderson, Alternate Staff II. Review of Preliminary 2004 Year -End Financial Results Allan Owens, Finance Administrator started the meeting with a review of the fiscal year 2004 audit report. He gave a PowerPoint presentation that will gave the board an idea of where we stand financially going into the current year and the budget and cycle for next year. This report will be presented to City Council on May 5, 2005 by the audit firm of Rachlin Cohen and Holtz. Some of the highlights of the reports are: Government -wide Net Assets increased by $9.7 million to $76.1 million (GASB 34 Basis). Governmental Fund basis, General Fund Undesignated Fund Balance increased from $7.2 to $7.5 million (budget projection last year was $8.4 million) General Fund revenues included estimated receivable from FEMA of $1.6 million (50 %) Allan stated that the bulk of the assets were invested in capital assets and therefore they are not available for spending. This represents about 60% of the assets. The remaining 15.7 million are subject to external restrictions such as bond monies or other reserves. These are also not available for spending. The remaining 14.6million may be used to meet ongoing obligations. He discussed the fact that the City relies on ad valorem taxes to cover the shortfall. Allan pointed out that one reason there was such a large increase is due to the hurricane reimbursements from FEMA. In addition, due to the continued growth in the City licenses and permits were up about 1.7 million dollars. Miscellaneous revenues were up 2.5 million dollars. The main component of that increase was due to the ongoing Scripps activities there was an agreement with a developer to pay for the DRI application fees and costs. The other part of the agreement was that they would reimburse the City for those costs. Included in that revenue was about 1.5 million dollars. There was discussion about $360.000 in insurance reimbursements due to the hurricane. Alan stated that the City had enough in reserve so they didn't have to borrow any money after the storms. The Board went over the audit process and had many questions in reference to the staff, the reserve in case of an emergency and the permitting process. Martin Cohen stated that he knows the building department is very busy since the hurricanes and suggested hiring temporary staff members, such as senior citizens to help during the very busy times. There was discussion about the Scripts DRI process. Alan explained the DRI process and stated that Tech Village Partners will pay all the costs as it goes forward. The biggest part was the engineering fees and a considerable amount staff time that was billed to Tech Village Partners. There was a question about having an audit committee, like other cities have. It was suggested that volunteers with the appropriate background meet with the auditors at least twice a year to give the auditors a chance to talk to someone instead of just staff. Alan suggested considering this process when they discuss next years budget. There was also discussion about the debris management plan and Alan explained that these issues will be addressed with City Council in the near future. Alan went over a few points in reference to the first quarter which included: • Staff is presently training on the new Eden Budget Sofware and all budget requests were put through using the new system. • New Impact fees were implemented in the City which became effective this year. • Major capital improvement projects including Lake Catherine, and the new pool is near completion. These were both funded by impact fees. There were questions about the impact fees and Alan explained that the new I impact fees went into effect on December 1". 2004. There was a question about investment income for this year and how it compares to last year. Alan did not have data with him but stated it is up substantially from last year. He will bring the data back at another meeting. He stated there has been some nice trends in investment earnings. The board also had questions about the golf course enterprise fund and if they are going to change the fund to a different type of fund that can make money. Alan has not spoken to the auditor yet but he will be in the near future and will report back to the board. . 1 There was discussion about the growth of the City and what happens after the City matures and the long term impact of decisions that are made today and how they will affect the future. Martin Cohen felt there could be budgetary problems after the City matures. Alan stated that this is a significant issue. At some point the income will level off and there won't be any more growth. The board feels that this should be brought up to City Council and to Senior Management and a plan should be formulated. Alan shared with the board with the budget process for 2006 and where they are at from this point. There was discussion about the fund balance going into the next year. He discussed expenses accrued and total property evaluation. Alan went over the dollar amounts and the board had several questions about the proposed budget. At the next meeting Alan will come back with answers to a lot of questions that were asked. The next meeting will be in May and then again in June. This will give staff time to do the internal revues to bring back to the board. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 3:15 PM Approval: ill I Ch lik artin ohen Maureen aquire Attest: usan Public Information/ Recording Coordinator