HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.b. Finance Department City Council Presentation � « n� V 2 P.O. BOX 510
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FINANCE DEPARTMENT �� � '"�,�
CI,TY COUNCIL PRESENTATION
February 20, 1990
I. Overview of Department
A. Operation/Functions
1. Annual and Ongoing Budget Process
2. Fund Accounting
3. Payroll
4. Investments �
5. Deputy Registrar
B. Personnel
1. Finance Personnel
2. Deputy Registrar Personnel
II. 1990 and Beyond
A. Current Special Projects
1. Conversion to Civic System Computer Programs
2. Investigate and Implement "Program Budgeting"
B. Next 12 Months
1. Special Needs
la. Fixed Assets Implementation
lb.
2. Staffing
2a. Finance Director's Staffing Posture
2b.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
CITY COUNCIL PRESENTATION
I. Overview of Department
A. Operation/Functions
1. The Finance Department is charged with compiling the annual
budget as it is generated through discussion and investigation
by each Department, within the Department, with other
Departments and the Administrator.
Maintaining accountability and integrity in the Computer
Financial System, providing each Department with accurate
information, to preclude the need for each Department to
create a separate Fund Accounting System to track their
Budgets.
2. Fund Accounting is made up of several distinct and separate
processes. As mandated by State Statute, we operate our Fund
Accounting system under the "Generally Accepted Fund
Accounting Rules" (GAFAR).
The "Revenue" side of our Fund Accounting System is a massive
job in itself as we generated 3,263 receipts during 1989, with
each receipt containing as few as one fund breakdown to
receipts witfi as many as forty fund breakdowns. Tracking all
of these receipts and the various breakdowns on each receipt
is a job for a sophisticated computer system with time proven
software.
The "Accounts Payable" side of our Fund Accounting System is
another massive and complex job. Again I offer data
indicating that we generated 3,097 account payable checks in
1989. These checks also contain from one to forty plus fund
breakdowns similar to the receipts. We feel very fortunate to
have had the opportunity to upgrade our system hardware in
1989, giving us the latest technology and some of the newest
software packages available.
3. The most important and the most noted responsibility in the
Finance Department is the maintenance and operation of the
"Payroll System". I consider this the most important
responsibility as it gets into the area of personnel and must
be done with the utmost accuracy and consistency. To fully
understand this, consider the impact and importanee of
preparing 26 payrolls per year that provided pay checks to 47
full time staff and 90 part time staff, generating a total of
1,602 pay checks, in 1989. The payroll system not only
generates the pay check, it also does the accounting and
history keeping to allow for the total automation of the
payroll system, from generating and printing the checks to
generating the accounts payable for all of the employee and
employer contributions that must be sent to the proper
parties, ie, Federal tax withholding, State tax withholding,
etc. , and at year end produces the W2's as required.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT-Page two
4. A side line issue for the Finance Department is "Investments".
The City is not mandated to invest its funds to earn interest
to offset the levy required to operate, but is mandated to
deposit its funds immediately upon receipt in a designated
depository that will provide the utmost security of the funds.
We therefore keep all city funds in an interest bearing
checking account or in various term "Certificates of Deposit".
During 1989 we averaged $12,500,000 in our investment port
folio at any given time, with those investments generating
$870,248 in interest income for tMe various City Funds.
5. Most Finance Department issues and responsibilities are
mandated. We enjoy maintaining a Service for the Community by
providing the "Deputy Registrar" location here at city hall .
The Deputy Registrar at this writing is the Finance Director,
but could be anyone who the city decides to designate for that
responsibility. It seems to best fit into the Finance
Department just by the very nature of the work generated by
the service. The term Deputy Registrar means that we are
representing someone else, and that someone else is the State
Commissioner of Public Safety, Mr. Paul Tschida, who is the
State Registrar. In this capacity we have generated 6,993
transactions for residents needing the services of a Deputy
Registrar in the licensing or transferring of ownership on
cars, trucks, trailers and miscellaneous others including
bicycles. Through these efforts we have collected and
remitted to the State Treasurer $601,728.95 in 1989. For our
efforts we have generated income for the city in the amount of
$22,488.00 in 1989. A Deputy Registrar also serves as an
agent for the DNR in that we handle similar needs for boat,
snowmobile and all terrain vehicle owners, completely separate
from Motor Vehicle. We processed 280 applications in 1989,
remitting to the State DNR $3,437.00 and $140.00 to the City
General Fund.
B. Personnel
1. The Finance Department staff consists of the Finance Director,
Deputy Finance Director and Finance/Deputy Registrar
Assistant. The Finance Director is responsible for the total
operation of both the Finance Department and the Deputy
Registrar location at this time. The Deputy Finance Director
is, with the supervision of the Finance Director, responsible
for the day to day operations of the finance department,
assisted by the Finance/Deputy Registrar Assistant.
2. The Deputy Registrar Staff consists of the Finance Director, •
the Finance/Deputy Registrar Assistant and the Assistant
Deputy Registrar. The Finance Director is responsible for the
total operation of the Deputy Registrar location at this time.
The Finance/Deputy Registrar Assistant, under the supervision
of the Finance Director, is responsible for the day to day
operation of the Deputy Registrar location, assisted by the
Assistant Deputy Registrar in the daily work tasks of the
department. Inasmuch as the Deputy Registrar location
personnel requirements are varied by the demand for services,
� FINANCE DEPARTMENT-Page three
this position can and does assist all other departments with
the work load of the various departments.
II. 1990 and Beyond
A. Current Special Projects
1. As noted earlier in this report, the Finance Department has
enjoyed upgrading the Computer System Hardware and Software.
Upgrading of this magnitude creates work tasks that seem to
have no end. Several people have been involved in the
conversion process as we parted company with the software
house previously utilized, which caused us to forfeit the
ability to convert our files through computer software
programs, leaving us with the task of physically converting
all of the old system records into the new system. Thanks to
a dedicated staff and a couple of part time individuals, this
process was completed without even a minor disruption of the
' day to day operation of the department.
2. Discussion has been held with the administrator regarding the '
possible investigation of "Program Budgeting". The general
consensus reached in these discussions are that in 1990 we
parallel the current budgeting method with the Zero Based
Program Budgeting to allow migration to this system should we
find it a better tool for use in budget preparation.
B. Next 12 Months
1. A major requirement of GAFAR is maintaining a Fixed Asset
Accounting system. This is a process that inventories all
city assets, placing a value on each item and maintains that
inventory for the purpose of funding the replacement of the
item. This is a major and much desired project but it has
been put off repeatedly over the years due to the magnitude of
the project and its assumed personnel needs. We have had
within the last two computer systems a program for such a
process but did not find the time to install the system. We
have this same feature in the new system and when the finance
department is confident that the new financial system is
working as it should, we will investigate the process
contained within the new software and propose a process to
accomplish the Fixed Assets Accounting System.
2. Staffing
2a. As Finance Director, I envision that very soon, the
department will be reaching a comfort level with the new
computer system to allow expanding our horizons within the
department. At this writing I do not believe that additional
help is needed or warranted in this department. Should other
departments find a need to expand to a point that they create
added activities in accounts payable, fund accounting and
payroll , we would then be faced with adding staff.