2000 AGN FEB 29 I01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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VI. We will maintain a cash working capital reserve which could support 45 days of operations for each Enterprise Fund on an individual basis, as approved by the City Council. VII. We will maintain a long-range fiscal perspective through the use of a bi-ennial operating budget and a five-year business plan. VIII. We will comply with all the requirements of "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" along with all laws and regulations related to financial reporting and the maintenance of our books and records. IX. An investment policy shall be updated and ratified in accordance with state law, and a separate document evidencing such policy shall be maintained by the City Treasurer, X. A debt policy, evidenced by a separate document, shall be maintained and updated as necessary. General Fund Revenues and Expenses The City of Colton is currently experiencing solid revenue growth in various areas, most notably sales taxes. It is often difficult to assess a local government's fiscal performance related to revenues, because they are extremely cyclical and do not follow a straight-line pattern. Revenues during the last one-half of the fiscal year are generally greater than those received during the first one-half. Fortunately, expenses tend to follow a similar pattern so significant mismatches between revenues and expenses do not usually occur. An exception to this is the first quarter of each fiscal year when hardly any revenue is received. Of course, expenses still occur as we must operate our city government. In order to adequately assess fiscal performance at mid -year, staff analyzed various data. Most notably, a comparison to prior year results, at the same point in time, is made to determine how we are "tracking" given historical cyclical norms. Another obvious analytical mechanism involves comparison of the current year (1999/2000) projected revenue amounts per the budget to actual prior year (1998/99) results. When the budget is developed (usually between January and June before the beginning of the budget cycle) the revenue estimates are based upon projected current year ending amounts, trends, and inflation. However, actual results are not usually known until four to seven months after year-end due to state revenue "catch -ups" and the audit process. Because of this, it is very possible that certain budgeted revenue amounts are inconsistent with prior year results, particularly in instances where rapid growth or declines are occurring. This is the fortunate case with the City's sales tax revenue. When the original sales tax estimate was developed for 1999/2000, the projected fiscal results for 1998/99, as reflected in the budget document accounts 5308 and 5716, amounted to $4,476,072 (7.5% growth over 1997/98). The 1999/2000 budgeted amount was $4,890,000 (925% growth over 1998/99 projected results). Upon receipt of the