Scorecard
General Fund fund balance policy
Cash Flow and Contingency. The City shall maintain a minimum unrestricted General Fund balance of 17% of the following year’s General Fund budgeted expenditures amount to be used for cash flow purposes, unanticipated expenditures of a non-recurring nature, and to meet unexpected increases in service delivery costs or unexpected revenue shortfalls. These funds are used to avoid cash flow interruptions, generate interest income, and to avoid the need for short-term borrowing.
Enterprise Fund Cash Balance Policy
Enterprise Funds. The appropriate balance shall be maintained to ensure adequate maintenance reserves, cash flow balancing requirements and legal restrictions. Where cost-effective access to capital markets is available and debt financing is regularly used, replacement balances shall not be maintained so current consumers are not required to pay for future facilities. The City shall maintain a minimum cash balance in its Enterprise Funds equal to approximately three months of operating expense.
Internal Service Fund Cash Balance and Net Position Policy
The appropriate balance shall be maintained to ensure adequate maintenance reserves, cash flow balancing requirements and legal restrictions.
- Workers' Compensation and General Liability Self-Insurance Fund shall maintain a cash balance equal to or greater than the current year projected total losses, as defined by the most recent annual independent actuarial study.
- Medical Self-Insurance Fund shall maintain a minimum cash balance of 35% of total annual claims. Funding of the reserve shall be included in the premium rates.
- Dental Self-Insurance Fund shall maintain a minimum cash balance of 20% of total annual claims. Funding of the reserve shall be included in the premium rates.
- Sick Leave Severance Self-Insurance Fund shall maintain a minimum cash balance equal to the combined short-term and long-term liability set at the end of the most recent audited period. Self-Insurance Fund shall maintain a cash balance equal to the unpaid claims payable amount on its balance sheet plus 10% of the annual department operating budgets within the fund. Net Position within the fund should not fall below zero.
- Fleet Services, Intergovernmental Services and Property Services Funds: If allocation model charges to customers are sufficient to cover debt service or depreciation expense, then the minimum cash balance should be 15% of the fund’s operating budget. If not, the reserve should be 15% of the fund’s total budget. Net Position shall not fall below two times the fund’s annual depreciation amount.
- Stores and Engineering Materials & Testing Funds shall maintain cash and net Positions equal to 15% of the fund’s annual operating budget.
Variable Rate Debt Policy
The City uses variable rate debt to provide debt structuring flexibility and potential interest savings to the total debt portfolio. Generally, the City maintains no more than 25% of its total debt obligations in variable rate mode. It also strives for no more than 25% of the debt in variable rate mode within the major business functions that issue debt such as the Stormwater, Sanitary Sewer, Water and Parking funds or the Convention Center.
Note: The variable rate debt amount is not growing; rather, the proportion of the parking fund debt that is variable rate. The fixed rate debt is being amortized more quickly.