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Council approves ordinance consolidating three funds into general fund and creating construction fund
Summary
The Anacortes City Council voted 7–0 to adopt Ordinance 5034, consolidating funds for parks, cemetery and library into the general fund and establishing Fund 301 as a governmental construction/capital projects fund; Finance Director Steve Hoagland said the move increases transparency and simplifies budgeting.
The Anacortes City Council unanimously approved Ordinance 5034 on Aug. 3 to consolidate accounting funds 101 (parks and recreation), 102 (cemetery) and 103 (library) into the general fund and to create Fund 301, a governmental capital construction fund.
Finance Director Steve Hoagland told the council the change is rooted in guidance from the state auditor's BARS (Budgeting, Accounting, and Reporting Systems) manual and is intended to reduce the number of separate accounting funds “to improve transparency and streamline some of our accounting and budgeting processes.” He said two of the three funds were currently in a negative position and that, without the ordinance, staff would return with operating transfers to keep those funds solvent.
Hoagland outlined how the consolidation will shift roughly $4 million of existing capital-related budgets into the general fund and establish Fund 301 to capture future governmental capital projects, citing the example of the event center planning costs. “Fund 301 will house all of our future governmental capital projects,” he said. He also described mechanics for preserving department-level tracking within the general fund so the public can still see parks, cemetery and library activity by department code.
Councilmembers praised the simplification. Councilmember Fantini said consolidating funds reduces “noise” and gives clearer operational numbers, while Miss Hunt and others agreed it will make budget documents easier to understand. The ordinance passed on a roll call vote, ayes 7, nays 0.
The council directed staff to publish explanatory material about the change; Hoagland said the city will post details on the finance web pages and that the change should make multi-year tracking of operations easier.
What happens next: Ordinance 5034 takes effect following publication; staff will post the fund descriptions and mapping on the finance web page to help residents and reviewers see how department activity will be reported going forward.
