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Major Initiatives <br />Following the completion of a comprehensive city-wide drainage plan, City Council directed staff to <br />alleviate affected neighborhoods from surface water flooding. Consequently, in 2010, the City issued <br />$6.28 million in certificates of obligation to be spent on engineering and construction projects. In 2011 <br />the City was also a recipient of the second round of disaster recovery funds of $4.1 million which will <br />also alleviate flooding on surface roads. <br />Long Term Planning <br />Given the current economy and the uncertainty of the next few years, the City’s existing financial position <br />remains strong. The City has incorporated several strategies to decrease the expenses to the City over the <br />next several years. Rising costs of personnel and the related benefits have been a challenge to the City; <br />however, over the last few years, a healthy fund balance in the General Fund has allowed the City to <br />weather these rising costs. In an effort to limit affects of rising personnel costs on future years, <br />compounding merit increases for employees was not funded this year; however, council approved a one <br />time stipend and health incentive programs were established to control costs. In another effort to reduce <br />costs, in fiscal year 2010 the City transferred excess fund balance from the General Fund to the Motor <br />Pool Fund to reduce lease fees by prefunding vehicle replacements. Other operational costs remain <br />steady. <br />Overall, revenues for the City have remained fairly stable. The City is projecting a slight increase in <br />property tax revenues. Sales tax revenues, which represent about 9% of revenues, are beginning to <br />increase again. Despite the unfavorable economy, the City has some new retail growth, which has aided <br />in sales tax revenue increases. The residential solid waste fee was increased in 2012. <br />Conservative revenue estimates and efforts to reduce expenditures have contributed to the City’s strong <br />financial position and have allowed the City to weather the economic slump. We are especially pleased <br />that there have been no property taxes rate increases for a number of years. Additional capital projects are <br />being funded by utilizing excess fund balances and previously issued debt that had been stranded. With <br />the associated fund draw downs, the remaining fund balances continue to meet operational objectives and <br />current fiscal policies. <br />Awards and Acknowledgements <br />The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) awarded a Certificate of Achievement for <br />Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City for its comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal <br />year ended September 30, 2011. This was the thirty-first consecutive year that the City has received this <br />prestigious award. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, the City published an easily <br />readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report. This report satisfied both <br />generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements. <br />v <br /> <br />