11-12-12 Regular Meeting of La Porte City Council

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Percentage of Cost Recovery -The extent to which the total cost of service should be recovered through fees depends upon the following factors: The nature of the facilities, infrastructure or services. In the case of fees for facilities, infrastructure and proprietary services, total cost recovery may be warranted. In the case of governmental services, it may be appropriate for a substantial portion of the cost of such services to be borne by the City’s taxpayers, rather than the individual users of such services. Proprietary services are those which are provided for the benefit and enjoyment of the residents of the City, such as parks and recreation services. Governmental services are those which are provided by the City for the public good such as regulating land use, maintaining streets, and providing police and fire protection. Administrative Transfers The City shall recover from selected enterprise operations an administrative fee. The fee shall be considered a payment for certain administrative functions (oversight management, accounting, human resource assistance, etc) and for payments in-lieu of taxes (i.e. if the operation was operated by someone other than the City, the City would receive property tax revenues). General &Administrative Transfers–A transfer to cover the direct and indirect costs associated with administrative support. For the Utility Fund, the transfer is allocated at a rate of up to5 percent of total expenseswhen appropriations allow. Flat Fee Transfers-Transfers from the Utility and La Porte Area Water Authority Funds to the General Fund will be determined by City management during the budget process and shall not exceed an overhead allocation where administrative fees are distributed to all City divisions based on their share of non-capital expenditures (expenses) as compared to all City non-capital expenditures (expenses). FB/ RP 3. UNDALANCEESERVEOLICIES The objectives of thefund balance reserve policies is not to hold resources solely as a source of interest revenue, but rather to provide adequate resources for cash flow and contingency purposes, while maintaining reasonable tax rates and charges for services. In addition, the City's proximity to the Gulf Coast provides the very real possibility of a damaging tropical storm or hurricane. General Fund Fund balance measures the net financial resources available to finance expenditures of future periods. The City of La Porte’s Unassigned General Fund Balance will be maintained to provide the City with sufficient working capital and a margin of safety to address local emergencies without borrowing. The Unassigned General Fund Balance may only be appropriated by resolution of the City Council. Fund Balance of the City may be committed for a specific source by formal action of the City Council. Amendments or modification to the committed fund balance must also be approved by formal action of the City Council. Committed fund balance does not lapse at year-end. The formal action required to commit fund balance shall be by resolution or majority vote. The City Council delegates authority to assign fund balance for a specific purpose following approval by the Fiscal Affairs Committee to the City Manager of the City of La Porte. For purposes of fund balance classification, expenditures are to be spent from restricted fund balance first and then unrestricted. Expenditures incurred in the unrestricted fund balances shall be reduced first from the committed fund balance, then from the assigned fund balance and lastly, the unassigned fund balance.