Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City finance director walks council through budget, project codes, reserves and grant rules
Summary
Finance Director Danny Nunn briefed the council on city budget and accounting: project life cycles, project and account numbering, reserve rules under TABOR (minimum reserve cited as $3.5M in 2026), and grant lifecycle and single‑audit requirements.
PUEBLO — The City of Pueblo’s finance director gave councilors a primer Monday on budgeting and accounting, outlining how projects are initiated, coded and closed, how reserve requirements work under TABOR and how the city manages grants and audits.
Danny Nunn explained the project life cycle from initiation and RFP to contract award, project management and final settlement, including retainage withheld pending project closeout. He told council that "the charter states that appropriations for capital projects will not expire until that project is completed or is intentionally abandoned," and that a project can be deemed abandoned if there are no expenditures from encumbered appropriations for three consecutive years.
Nunn described project numbering conventions (examples: CI for capital improvement projects; AN for annual projects) and account codes used in the general ledger (5‑series for wages and operating; 5‑8 for programs). He said the city keeps cash in depository accounts for daily operations and invests excess funds, and that investment holdings exceed $300 million across funds such as wastewater and the half‑cent sales tax bond.
On reserves, Nunn said TABOR requires a minimum reserve (he cited roughly $3.5 million for 2026) and the council has historically designated an additional reserve of about 12 percent to protect fiscal stability. He also described three main grant types (federal, state and foundation), the pre‑award/post‑award lifecycle and single‑audit rules for grantees receiving more than $1 million annually.
Councilors requested periodic project updates and monthly fund‑balance reports. Nunn said the city’s transparency portal provides a live view of the internal accounting system and agreed to work with council to provide additional project tracking options.
