Financial Policies

Financial Management Policies

The Financial Management Policies apply to fiscal activities of Sublette County.

Objectives

The objectives of Sublette County’s financial policies are as follows:

•To enhance the Board of County Commissioner’s decision-making ability by providing accurate information on program and operating costs.

•To employ revenue policies that prevent undue or unbalanced reliance on any one source, distribute the cost of county services fairly, and provide adequate funds to operate desired programs.

•To provide and maintain essential public programs, services, facilities, utilities, infrastructure, and capital equipment.

•To ensure the legal use of all County funds through efficient systems of financial security and internal control.

Investments

All County funds shall be invested to provide – in order of importance – safety of principal, a sufficient level of liquidity to meet cash flow needs, and the maximum yield possible.

Accounting

• The County will maintain an accounting and financial reporting system that conforms to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Wyoming State Statute.

• An independent annual audit will be performed by a certified public accounting firm that will issue an official opinion on the annual financial statements and a management letter as needed or required detailing areas that need improvement.

• Full disclosure will be provided in the financial statements.

• The accounting systems will be maintained to monitor expenditures and revenues on a monthly basis with thorough analysis and adjustment of the annual budget as appropriate.

Operating Budgetary Policies

• The County will finance all current expenditures with current revenues. The County will avoid budgetary practices that balance current expenditures through the obligation of future resources or reserves. (except as noted in the definition of the Reserve Fund as shown below)

• The County budget will support County Commission goals and priorities and the long-range needs of the community.

• The County will include multi-year references in the budget document.

• To maintain fund integrity, the County will manage each fund as an independent entity in accordance with applicable statutes and with generally accepted account principles.

• The County will allocate direct and administrative costs to each fund based upon the cost of providing these services. The County will recalculate the cost of administrative services regularly to identify the impact of inflation and other cost increases.

• The County will submit documentation for each adopted budget to strive to obtain the Award for Distinguished Budget Presentation from the Government Finance Officers Association.

Fund Balance Policy

General Fund

• The General Fund accounts for all financial resources not accounted for in other funds. Resources include working capital carryover, taxes, licenses and permits, intergovernmental revenue, fines and forfeitures, charges for services, miscellaneous revenues, and inter-fund transfers. Expenditures are for Social Services, Economic and Cultural Development, Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Department, Infrastructure and Facility Maintenance, and payments for services provided by other funds.

Special Revenue Funds

Reserve Fund. This fund is used to set aside funds to protect services and to stabilize the budget, and to meet any costs that may arise in the future from unexpected events.

County Road Fund. Revenues are from the gasoline license taxes. Expenditures are for the maintenance, repair, and surfacing of streets, as well as the maintenance, repair and construction of bridges. Large road and bridge projects will first be budgeted from this fund through the guidelines set forth in the County Road Fund Manual, before expending unencumbered funds.

Airport Fund. Funds in the Airport Fund are allocated to the Big Piney / Marbleton Airport and the Pinedale Airport. Funds received for the Big Piney / Marbleton Airport are dispersed biannually to support general operations. Funds allocated to the Pinedale Airport are to be an equal amount allocated to the Big Piney / Marbleton Airport and are accrued until a reimbursement for grant match for improvement projects is requested by the entity, not to be used for general operations.

E911 Fund. Funds in the E911 Fund are maintained separately from the General Fund and are used to maintain the current E911 infrastructure. Money left over at the end of the fiscal year is maintained in the E911 Fund.

Fire Fund. Funds received from Fire (up to 1 mill levy out of the County 12 mill) are kept separate from General Fund expenditures and revenues. Money left over at the end of the fiscal year is transferred to fire reserves to offset any future budgetary deficiencies and for maintenance and repair to existing capital assets.

Fair Fund. The Fair mill levy allocation provides funding for the county fair and the overall fairgrounds operations in separate budgets. Each Fair budget contains funding for two annual fairs due to the timing of tradition Fair activities and County Budget process.

Library Fund. The Sublette County Library program receives funds from the County’s 12 mill levy to fund operations in the Big Piney and Pinedale facilities.

Recreation Fund. The Sublette County Recreation funds the Ice Arena and projects approved by the sitting Recreation Board members.

Capital Projects Funds

Capital improvement funds are established to account for financial resources that are used for the acquisition or construction of major capital facilities, including Fire facilities.

Capital Improvements Fund. This fund will account for construction, property and equipment, acquisition and replacement, improvements and related purposes including facility maintenance. The purpose is to accumulate funds prior to a large construction project; therefore, there is no minimum fund balance.

Revenues

• The County will estimate its annual revenues by an objective, analytical process. Because most revenues are sensitive to conditions outside the County’s control, estimates will be conservative.

• With the exception of legally restricted portions of a fund balance, Board action equivalent to that taken to commit or assign fund balance can be done to unassign it.

• To the extent practicable, new development shall pay necessary fees to meet all identified costs associated with that development.

• The County will work aggressively to collect all delinquent accounts receivable. When necessary, collection procedures will include termination of service, submission to collection agencies, foreclosure, and other available legal remedies.

Expenditures

• The County will provide employee compensation that is competitive with comparable public jurisdictions within the relative recruitment area.

• Estimated wage increases and changes in employee benefits will be included in the proposed budget under Personnel Services.

• The County is committed to maintaining and improving the productivity of its staff by providing a proper working environment, adequate equipment and supplies, and appropriate training and supervision.

Purchasing

• The County will purchase materials, supplies, and equipment through a competitive process that provides the best product for the least cost.

Capital

• The County will provide for adequate maintenance of equipment and capital assets. The County will make regular contributions to the Equipment Reserve Fund to ensure that monies will be available as needed to replace County vehicles and facilities.

• Future operating costs associated with new capital improvements will be projected and included in the long-term budget forecast.

• The County will determine and use the most appropriate method for financing all new capital projects.

• Special accounts dedicated for capital improvements will be segregated in the accounting system and used only for the intended capital purposes.

• The Capital Improvement Plan will encourage a level capital replacement schedule.

Debts

• The County will not use long-term borrowing to finance current operations.

Risk Management

• The County will provide an active risk management program that protects assets through loss prevention, insurance, and self-insurance.