| Division Financial Management |
| |
| Mission Statement
|
| To serve our customers by adding value to all City transactions by maintaining the City’s financial position, by
safeguarding the City’s assets, and by enhancing the City’s ability to fund current and longer term priority service. |
| |
| Trends, Issues, and Opportunities |
 | The division monitors City revenues and major cost categories and prepares six year projections to determine the effects of trends upon City fiscal capacity through the longer term. During FY 2002 and 2003, the City's financial environment has become more volatile, providing great challenges and risks in managing the City's financial resources. The economy is projected to continue with low levels of growth, which reduce the likelihood that the City's revenue sources will provide a cushion to address cost pressures. While the economic situation has some benefits, such as the low interest rate environment, the opportunity to accumulate unallocated money to address priority capital and project needs is projected to be limited. DFM has a significant challenge to project and monitor financial indicators during these difficult times to assure that needs and issues are identified in a manner to allow timely planning to maintain the City financial position for each fund. The key issue during FY 2004 and 2005 will be to achieve Structural balance: to constrain base costs within limited revenues and to assure that the longer term financial position remains positive and viable. |
| The implications of the Jefferson Wells special audit are significant as the City works to restore public trust and confidence and to identify and understand risks and prudent techniques to contain and reduce risk. |
| The Micron property tax lawsuit, the reduction in development and growth related revenue in the property tax and in development fees, and threats to revenue sources, such as the cable franchise fee, entail careful contingent planning and effort to achieve cost constraint during the balance of FY 2003 and throughout the FY 2004 and 2005 2YB. |
| Investments and cash management have become more critical because of the thin level of unallocated money and must be carefully planned and monitored to provide cash flow at the necessary times and in the appropriate amounts, while traversing the investment options to maximize return to the City. |
| Completion of the airport capital facilities project phases requires both debt and financial management efforts that are complicated and significant. The uncertain strategy toward planned police, library and fire facilities pose important public policy issues for the Mayor and City Council and require significant staff support to identify and understand options. |
| The division has implemented technology advances in order to stay abreast of expanding numbers of transactions and increasingly complex processes. The electronic budget process has demanded a tremendous amount of energy and effort and will provide process improvement into the future. Similar projects will be undertaken to enhance accounting, database mining, treasury software for collections and cash management, and safety databases. The mature PeopleSoft programs have provided a new and robust data mine, and the new tools to allow departments to more easily access the data provide a key initiative to undergird department and central financial management. During the coming months, PeopleSoft applications will move to web based delivery that is expected to significantly enhance its utility to department managers. |
| Collections continue to be a key area in the strategy for assuring that the City maximize revenue sources. The Collections staff must continually update their skills and technology to keep payments current. The City's risk and liability programs are based upon a sophisticated understanding of exposures to accidents and external and internal threats to well being. The issue of security of City facilities will be a key budget issue for the 2 YB. |
| The division also manages contracts for the BUS, animal control, the Boise Art Museum, senior services, public access television, and franchise agreements. The contracting agencies have been impacted by the tight economy and the reductions in private giving. The City's financial and policy role in those organizations will be a key issue during the 2YB. |
| |
| Two-Year Budget Highlights |
| Monitoring the economy and the external and internal changes that affect the City's revenue and cost structure will be a central focus during the 2YB period. DFM will propose watch items that should be managed during budget development and during the 2YB period to increase the likelihood that the budget will be structurally balanced. The division will also address the issue of appropriate levels of analysis, pre- and post-audit of transactions and of documentation standards to meet the policy direction for quarterly and annual reporting. |
| The division will continue to focus on maintaining and enhancing the technological capacity within each of the DFM unit assignments. Updating PeopleSoft to take advantage of web technology and communication, extending the data mining capability for departments and providing other improvements to City financial and risk software will require significant activity during the 2YB period. |
| A budget balancing alternative (BBA) for additional analysis staffing in Accounting and in Treasury provides capacity to meet the heightened focus of identification and reporting of City financial transactions that is implied in the special audit. |
| |
| Accomplishments |
| During FY 2002 and 2003, the division implemented a newer version of PeopleSoft financials, completed two initial implementation applications of data mining software (ProClarity), updated the electronic budget system to provide for HTML publishiing to enhance user access, implemented enhancements in the City's collection program, completed years three and four of the self insured workers compensation program, developed a PEHP program for general employees and continued to support the PEHP programs for police and fire. |
| Special projects facilitated the City's legislative liaison effort during the 2002 and 2003 State legislative sessions and assisted in protecting the City's interests in state legislation in conjunction with the Association of Idaho Cities. |
| The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (the CAFR or annual audit) was completed for FY 2001 (in winter 2001) fully compliant with the complicated new requirements for governmental accounting that were imposed by the Government Accounting Standards Board statement # 34. Boise's audit was one of the few in the nation to comply early and became a model for other cities to follow as they endeavored to comply. |
| The City was recognized by Government Finance Officers Association and given awards for excellence in the budget (15 consecutive years) and the audit (5 consecutive years.) City staff also worked with the Association of Idaho Cities; Association of Government Accountants; Public Treasurers Association; and Idaho City Clerks, Finance Officers and Treasurers Association to share information, processes, and technology to enhance the capacity of other cities in Idaho and elsewhere in the nation. |
| The division supported debt issuances for airport construction and efforts related to the refinancing of current tax supported debt to provide base capacity to fund debt service for the police headquarters and precinct facility, for two library branches, and for fire facilities. |
| |
| Human
Resource Summary |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| Actuals |
Revised |
Base |
Base |
| Administrative Support | 15.00 | 15.00 | 16.00 | 16.00 | | First Line Supervisor | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | | Key Business Managers | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | | Professional | 6.00 | 7.00 | 7.00 | 7.00 | | Technical Specialist | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Total |
27.00 |
29.00 |
29.00 |
29.00 |
|