Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City finance director walks council through Community Financial Report, OPEB restatement and fund structure
Summary
Director Wade presented the Community Financial Report and ACFR overview, explained the city's ERP transition and a decision to restate OPEB beginning balances for transparency, and walked council through the city's 12‑fund structure, revenue drivers and reserve practices.
Director of Finance Director Wade presented the city’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and the new Community Financial Report, framing both as tools for transparency and public engagement.
Wade acknowledged the ERP go‑live (payroll phase), staffing pressures and thanked staff for timely work. She explained that the city moved to the state employer group insurance plan in August 2023 and described the complex actuarial issues this created for the OPEB valuation. "We had to decide whether this change in accounting for OPEB is a correction of an error or a change in estimate," Wade said. "In the end, I decided that a correction of an error, really restating that bat value to 0... made the most sense to me." She said she chose the restatement path for transparency so the beginning balances would tie to publicly available actuarial reports.
Wade also demonstrated the Community Financial Report’s bookmarks and readability features, noting last year’s report won a GFOA popular annual financial reporting award. She urged council and the public to read management’s discussion and analysis and suggested staff produce one‑ or two‑page summaries and clearer charts with exact numbers to aid public comprehension.
On funds, Wade said the city operates roughly 12 funds with distinct purposes — general fund, recreation center fund, 2018 SPET, enterprise funds (water, wastewater, solid waste), capital construction, economic development, cemetery perpetual care, E911, and an Opioid Settlement Fund among others — and emphasized that funds have defined boundaries and transfer rules. She explained revenue sources for the general fund (shared state sales/use taxes, other shared state taxes, the 'fifth cent' on the ballot) and said the largest general‑fund expenditures are police, followed by fire and EMS, then parks and public services.
Council members praised the report’s clarity, asked for a one‑page summary and exact numbers on bar charts, and suggested including department directors in future sessions to tell “the story” of how funds are used. Wade proposed subsequent shorter sessions focusing on the council’s decision‑making process for the budget and department-level presentations ahead of budget season.
