E-Help 6/21/2006

1.  Four Points Sheraton room availability for IMTA Conference
2.  IMTA Annual Conference: June 25-27
3.  Blogging guidelines (Highland)
4.  Home Rule Sales Tax (Chicago Heights)
5.  Association of Public Treasurers US & C 41^st Annual Conference 7/22-26
6.  APT update
7.  Treasurers Institute Nov 12-16
8.  IMTA Board Positions
9.  Accounting Policies & Guidelines (Wauconda)
10.  Part time Treasurer survey (Macomb)

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1. IMTA Upcoming Conference - Room Availability

I believe there was some problems with enough lodging at the four points and unfortunately I am recovering from a recent surgery and my husband and my doctor concur that I will not be able to attend the conference this weekend.  I have already made reservations at the four points for a non smoking room at the advertised rate.  I would hate for the room to go to someone at a higher rate, so if someone would be interested in the room reservation I already have, please email me by Friday afternoon and we will discuss the details.  I am really bummed about missing this conference, but I am confident I WILL be back in the swing of things for the APT conference.  Please email me at cityofcskhamilto@aol.com and Kristien97@aol.com, as I am working from home and checking both emails.

Thanks,
Kristien Hamilton
City of Creal Springs

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June 25-27, 2006
IMTA Annual Conference

Four Points Sheraton
Fairview Heights

Julie Miller is chair for Silent Auction items.  If you have a donation please bring it to the conference.  If possible let Julie know in advance at  j_miller@mtzion.com

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3. BLOGGING GUIDELINES

How are other cities handling blogging and chatting.  I can understand we have no control over the average citizen who voices his opinion through a Blog. 

We have a Councilperson who has a Blog.  Is there a guideline he should follow? 

If anyone has a policy that would address blogging or chatting, please forward them to me.  Thanks.

Sharon Rusteberg
Director of Finance
City of Highland Illinois
srusteberg@ci.highland.il.us

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4.  HOME RULE SALES TAX

Does anyone have information on a City sales tax revenue for home rule communities.  How do you determine how much you can receive how does a municipality go about passing this tax etc. any help is appreciated

Thanks
Joy Nardi City of Chicago Heights
JNardi@chicagoheights.net

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5. Association of Public Treasurers United States and Canada  41st Annual Conference

Jazz up your Skills and avoid the interest rate blues at the APT US & C Conference in Memphis

July 22nd - July 26, 2006
The Peabody Hotel
Memphis, TN

Register by June 1st
Register today at www.aptusc.org

There is still time to Register for the Largest Government and Finance Conference in the United States

If you are a member, you must log into the members only section to get the member price for the conference.

See the Conference schedule of Events and class sessions.

Join us this summer in Memphis Tennessee for APT US&C 41st Annual Conference. This annual event is set to provide you with the highest quality of insight into the public finance world. With technology rapidly changing make sure you're not left behind by expanding your horizons through top tier speakers, exhibitors displaying their latest products and services, as well as the knowledge that you gain from your colleagues. Spend some time with your peers this summer and come back to your community as a well versed Public Treasurers.

Also helpful steps in registering for the conference (member and non-member), to book a flight, or rent a car all in the May Spotlight located in the newsletter section of our website,

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6. APT UPDATE

A quick email before summer begins,

• The 41^st Annual Conference is next month - There is still time to register and get a hotel room http://www.aptusc.org/index.php

This conference has over 60 Educational Sessions- There is something for ever one!

• Scholarships are available http://www.aptusc.org/common/membership_benefits/awards_scholarships/scholarships.php
• There is a golf outing at the conference – if you are interested please email  knoone@aptusc.org for a form
• If you are not receiving monthly emails on any of the items, such as Treasury Notes, Spot lights, Tech Topics, this is due to your city/town or companies firewall. To fix this problem you will need to add this email newsletter@aptusc.org to your contacts.  If you are still not receiving emails from APT after doing this, please contact your network administrator.  They will need to fix the problem.  
• In the next week you will be receiving a blue envelope from us with important information -please watch for this.

 Kelley Noone,Executive Director
Association of Public Treasurers United States & Canada
962 Wayne Avenue Suite 910
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301- 495 -5560 Phone
http://www.aptusc.org

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Nov 12-16, 2006
Treasurer's Institute
Holiday Inn, Champaigne, IL

Watch your mail for registration information!!!

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9. PART TIME TREASURER SURVEY

If you employ a part-time Treasurer please take a moment to assist me.

Municipality Name:
Population:
Annual Compensation:
Other benefits:
Approximate monthly work hours (daytime):
Approximate monthly work hours (evening meetings):

Thanks for your assistance,
Ron Ward. Macomb Treasurer
RG-Ward@wiu.edu

RESPONSES:
Lincolnshire, 6537 pop, $1,800 Annual comp, no other bens, 1 hr per mo, 2-3 hrs per mo meeting time, review draft of audit Stan Roelker

Municipality Name:                    City of Highland
Population:                                9,438               
Annual Compensation:               $700.00 per year
Other benefits:                           None
Approximate monthly work hours (daytime):         None

Approximate monthly work hours (evening meetings): Attends 2 council meetings a month.  He doesn’t get involved in the day to day operations, but he does receive a copy of the agenda packet.

All the work is done by and through the fulltime Director of Finance

Sharon Rusteberg
Director of Finance
City of Highland Illinois
srusteberg@ci.highland.il.us

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10. ACCOUNTING POLICIES & GUIDELINES:

My Board is looking for a guide that consists of definitions or descriptions for the following: Financial Reporting Entity,Measurement Focus, Basis of Accounting and Operating Revenues policies, Operating Expenditures policies, Balance Sheet Polices, Budget Policies, Capital Improvement polices vehicle replacement program etc…

Apparently, a guideline of accounting polices is what we are seeking to implement.

I greatly appreciate any assistance and materials that you can share with me that will assist me with this project.

Thanks,
Zaida Torres
ztorres@villageofwauconda.com

RESPONSE:
Attached are the financial policies that Roselle adopted two years ago. There might be a few things that would be helpful.

 Pam Figolah
Director of Finance
Village of Roselle
PFigolah@roselle.il.us

VILLAGE OF ROSELLE
FINANCIAL PRACTICES
POLICY

The recommended financial policies have been formulated to insure the continued financial health of the Village. The objectives of these practices are to assist the Village Board and Village Management in making budgetary decisions based upon sound financial principals. They are general policies and are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. They are intended to establish a solid foundation for the financial management of the Village. Staff should work within the context of these policies while continuing to explore lawful, creative and insightful financial recommendations to present to the Corporate Authorities of the Village for their consideration and possible implementation. The cornerstone of these policies and future financial recommendations should be maintaining comprehensive and sound fiscal management of all the Villages economic resources. Other than an investment policy, the Village does not have any written financial policies, but does consider the following practice of previous years.

Budget Practices

The Village Administrator shall submit an annual budget to the Village Board which is within the Village’s ability to pay. The annual budget should provide for the following:

a.       The annual budget should effectively communicate meaningful and understandable information to the Village residents, Village Board, Village Staff, and other readers. To accomplish this goal the Village will prepare its annual budget in conformance with the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Award Program.

b.       The annual budget will be monitored on a monthly basis. Revenue and expenditure budget reports will be prepared on a monthly basis. These reports will be made available to Village management staff for departmental review. A monthly budget summary report (Treasurer’s Report) will be presented to the Village Board.

c.       The annual budget should allow for the implementation of as many of the Village Board’s goals and objectives as financially possible.

d.       The annual budget should provide for the adequate funding of all pensions systems (IMRF, Police Pension Fund, and Firefighters Pension Fund). An independent actuary should be used to determine the annual Village contributions to the Police Pension Fund and the Firefighters Pension Fund and determine if these pension funds are adequately funded.

e.       The annual budget should provide funding for the adequate maintenance of municipal equipment, municipal facilities, and infrastructure.

f.         The annual budget should set aside-adequate funding (pay-as-you-go funding) for the replacement of vehicles and major equipment. Annual funding (depreciation funding) for these replacements will eliminate major expenditure jumps in the annual budget when these acquisitions are made.

g.       The annual budget should finance current operating expenditures, excluding major capital expenditures, with current revenues. The use of reserves to finance current operating expenditures should be carefully considered and avoided if possible.

Capital Improvement Practices

The Village will prepare a multiple-year capital improvement program that is incorporated in the annual budget document. The multiyear capital improvement program will be used to identify and prioritize future capital needs and possible funding sources.

a.                       This program will be reviewed during the Village’s annual budget process.

b.                       The operating costs to maintain capital acquisitions and improvements will be included in the annual budget.

c.                       In addition to utility taxes, intergovernmental grant funding, and/or debt financing will be considered to finance capital improvement programs. 

Investment Policy

The Village Board approved a separate Investment Policy in 1999 whose goal is to provide guidelines for the prudent investment of the Village’s temporary idle funds. This policy will be reviewed by management on an annual basis and recommended changes, if any, will be submitted to the Village Board for approval.

Capital Assets Practices

As a general rule, the Village capitalizes assets that have a minimum original cost of $20,000 and a useful life of at least one year. The following table has been established and used to determine the depreciation of these capital assets:

Debt Practices

As a non-home rule community, the Village has a legal debt limit of 8.625% of its most recent equalized assessed valuation (EAV). The legal debt limit excludes debt that is repaid using user fees or property taxes. The Village should only incur debt for capital assets and/or capital projects. It has been the Village’s practice not to incur debt for operating expenditures.

a.                   Although pay-as-you-go financing is the preferred method to finance capital projects, the Village will explore all options in financing its capital improvement program, including grants, developer contributions, pay-as-you-go financing, and long-term debt paid by user charges or paid by Village-wide taxes.

b.                   The term of the debt issued for capital improvement projects will not exceed the project’s useful life and generally will not exceed 20 years.

c.                   Whenever possible, the Village will market its debt through the competitive bid process.

d.                   The Village will comply with its Continuing Disclosure Requirements pursuant to the SEC Rule 15c-12(b)(5), including filing a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) with each nationally-recognized municipal information repositories (NRMIR’s) within 210 days following the end of each fiscal year and disclosing certain material events on an occurrence basis. 

Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting Practices

a.                   The Village will have an annual audit conducted on its financial records by a qualified, independent public accounting firm. The Village will request proposals from qualified independent accounting firms to conduct the annual audit of its financial statements every three to six years by the use of a request for proposal (RFP) process.

b.                   The annual audit is conducted annually and completed and filed within six months after the end of each fiscal year.

c.                   The Village submits its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) to the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program.

d.                   The Village’s financial statements are prepared according to generally-accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as promulgated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

e.                   The Village contracts with an independent actuary to determine the Village’s annual contribution to the Police and Fire Pension Funds

Adopted: August 2004