03-26-12 Fiscal Affairs Committee

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Profile of the City The City of La Porte, incorporated in 1892, is located in the southeast quadrant of Harris County and is bounded on the north by the Houston ship channel, on the east by Galveston Bay and the south by the Bayport channel. The City of La Porte currently encompasses 19 square miles and serves a population of 34,138. The City is a home rule city operating under the Council-Manager form of government. Policymaking and legislative authority are vested in a governing council consisting of the mayor and eight other members. The city council is responsible, among other things, for passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committees and hiring the City Manager, City Secretary and Attorney. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the City Council, for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the City and for appointing the heads of various departments. The Council is elected on a non-partisan basis. The Mayor and Council members serve three-year staggered terms. Six of the council members are elected by district. The Mayor and the two remaining council members are elected at large. The City of La Porte provides a full range of services, including police and fire protection, the construction and maintenance of streets and other infrastructure and recreational activities and cultural events. Certain services are provided through a legally separate Water Authority, which functions, as a blended component unit and in essence, is a department of the City of La Porte, and, therefore, has been included as an integral part of the City of La Porte’s financial statements. Additional information on the Water Authority and other blended component units can be found in Note 1.B. of the notes to the financial statements. The City has established a Taxing Increment Reinvestment Zone one (the Zone). The zone is presented as a blended component unit and is being reported as a governmental fund type (see Note 1 B). The City has also established a section 4 B Sales Tax Corporation (see Note 1 B). The City’s accounting records for general governmental operations are maintained on modified accrual basis, with the revenues being recorded when available and measurable and expenditures being recorded when the services or goods are received and the liabilities are incurred. Accounting records for the City’s utilities and other proprietary activities are maintained on the accrual basis. The annual budget serves as the foundation for the City of La Porte’s financial planning and control. Budgetary control has been established at the fund level. All agencies of the City of La Porte are required to submit requests for appropriation to the City Manager on or before May 26 of each year. The City Manager uses these requests as the starting point for developing a proposed budget. The City Manager then presents this proposed budget to council for review prior to August. The council is required to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget and to adopt a final budget by no later than September 30th. The appropriated budget is prepared by fund, function (e.g., public safety) and department (e.g., police). The directors are given latitude to approve transfers of appropriations within a department. Transfers of appropriations between funds, however require the special approval of the city council. Budget-to-actual comparisons are provided in financial reports for each individual governmental fund for which an appropriated annual budget has been adopted. For the general fund, this comparison is presented on page 56 as part of the required supplementary information. For governmental funds, other than the general fund, with appropriated annual budgets, this comparison is presented in the governmental fund subsection of this report, which starts on page 72. Formal budgetary integration is employed as a management control device during the year for the General Fund and Enterprise Funds. Formal budget integration is not employed for the Debt Service and Capital Projects Funds because effective budgetary control is alternatively achieved through bond indenture provisions and legally binding construction contracts, respectively. Economic Condition The information presented in the financial statements is perhaps best understood when it is considered from the broader perspective of the specific environment within which the City of La Porte operates. ii