City of La Porte Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 1997

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I In the administration department, the list of changes includes an increase of over $50,000 in municipal court, which is the result of increased enforcement activity. The increase was offset by a larger increase in revenues. In the legal department, costs for legal services were up almost $37,000. A new position was added to the management information services division and general administration saw increases in various accounts. The decrease in the finance department is caused by planned reduction in personnel resulting from increased office efficiency caused by the new computer system and fluctuations in the non departmental division which contains items that are not normally year to year expenses. There was an increase in the costs for providing health coverage for our employees but this was countered by a reduction in amounts spent in the settlement of a lawsuit. The parks department increase is attributed to the conversion of seven part time positions to full time positions, which increases the number of hours they work and includes benefits such as health insurance and retirement. General Fund Balance. The fund balance of the general fund decreased by $768,695 leaving an ending fund balance of $6,134,397. The decrease was planned and was directly attributed to a transfer to establish the transportation and other infrastructure fund. The current fund balance is equivalent to 127 days of working expenditures and is above the targeted goal of 90 to 120 days of working expenditures established for this fund. Debt Service Fund Balance. The fund balance of the debt service increased by $315,682 leaving an ending fund balance of $647,619. The current fund balance is equivalent to 107 days of working expenditures and is above the targeted goal of 60 to 90 days of working expenditures established for this fund. Enterprise Operations. The City has four (4) enterprise operations over which the City has direct control and one (1), which they oversee. Each will be discussed below. Utility Fund - The utility fund accounts for the provision of water and treatment of wastewater for its customers. Working capital increased by $233,052 to $3,518,939. Working capital available for operations (excluding working capital held for capital outlay and debt service requirements) is 205 days of expenditures, well above the targeted 90 to 120 day level. Airport Fund - The City owns and operates a municipal airport. The only normal expenses of the airport are routine maintenance and they are recovered through fees charged to fixed base operators located at the airport. Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements, excess revenues of the airport are to remain in the Airport-Fund for future improvements. During 1993, the City began improvements to the airport under a grant from the FAA. This project was substantially completed in 1996. . . Sylvan Beach Fund - The City leased the Sylvan Beach Convention Center from the county for a 40 year term starting in 1983. The City proceeded to make approximately $300,000 in capital improvements. The City has been very pleased with this operation which now has a working capital balance of $168,739. . . Golf Course Fund - The City owns and operates a municipal golf course, which was built with general obligation bond proceeds in 1988. The working capital in the fund decreased $84,434 to $915,907. The City has plans to utilize $360,000 of this amount for course improvements. 7