CFO: Sun City West reserve fund positive; district moving reserve study into software

Cliff Swan, chief financial officer for Sun City West, told attendees the recreation district entered the midyear point “in really good shape,” reporting about $740,000 favorable year-to-date driven by expense savings that offset a modest revenue shortfall.

Swan said the reserve fund produced approximately $609,000 in investment income year-to-date and that total valuation gains left the reserve fund roughly $619,000 positive. He reported about $31 million in the reserve fund balance and said staff had placed about $565,000 into reserve allocations so far this fiscal year.

Swan described the reserve study — the inventory and long-term replacement plan for assets valued over $5,000 with useful lives longer than five years — as central to budgeting. He said the district’s spreadsheet currently contains about 1,400 line items and that staff selected a vendor, Smart Properties, to convert the spreadsheet into a software platform that will include pictures, locations and maintenance schedules.

“It's all of our assets that are over $5,000 in value and have a 5 year useful life,” Swan said, explaining how APF fees (assessment, permit, fee — referenced as APF fees in the presentation) fund the reserve fund per policy. He said APF fee collections are on budget year-to-date and that membership revenue and point-of-sale transactions totalled about $11.3 million in the period cited.

Swan said the software conversion will give department heads greater visibility into replacement timing and costs and improve coordination between operating maintenance and capital budgeting.