05/07/2012-CC-Agenda Packet-Work SessionS2�Rge�
TEXAS
AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL
WORKSESSION
MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012
6:00 PM
502 ELM STREET
1. Call Meeting to Order.
2. Mid -Year Overview of 2011-2012 Budget and Expenses.
3. Discussion on City Investment Policy and Reserve Funds.
4. Overview of Items on Regular Agenda.
5. Adjourn.
I, the undersigned authority, do hereby certify that this Notice of Meeting was posted on the
bulletin board, at the City Hall of the City of Sanger, Texas, a place convenient and readily
accessible to thegenera� public at all times, and said notice was posted on the following date
and time: _ ' ,� at 7 t m. and shall remain
posted until meetings adjourned. !
%% OF
Tami Taber, City Secretary
City of Sanger, Texas
This facility is wheelchair accessible and accessible parking spaces are available. Requests for
accommodations or interpretive services must be made 48 hours prior to this meeting. Please contact
the City Secretary's office at (940) 458-7930 for further information.
NS
To:
MayorandCouncil
From:
Mike Brice, City Manager
Pate:
05/01/2012
Re:
Fund Reserves
As I mentioned earlier in an email we have about $1,000,000 right now in reserve. It is split between
General Fund and Enterprise Fund, but is unrestricted so the entire amount could be used for any type
of expenses and could be transferred to any fund.
GFOA recommends that we have about two months operating expenses in unrestricted fund balance
in the General Fund. Our General Fund is about $4,900,000, which would put two month's operating
expenses at $816,667. Since we anticipate some growth in the General Fund budget over the next
three to five years, I would suggest we set a goal of increasing the unrestricted fund balance,
emergency reserve, in the General Fund to $1,000,000 over the next five budget years. This would
mean adding about $100,000 a year and can most likely be accomplished with end of year fund
balances.
Even though the Enterprise budget is twice what the general Fund is at $9,900,000, it is a different
animal. Much of the budget, over $5,000,000 is budgeted for wholesale water and electric purchase.
Obviously, if we aren't selling water and power, we are not buying it either. That being said, two
months operating expense is closer to the General Fund at $400,000 to $500,000 a month. This
means we need to build up Enterprise fund reserves to around $1,000,000 as well. Again, I suggest
we do this over the next three to five years using end of year fund balances.
The other big threat comes from the fact that we operate the electric utility. A wind storm, ice storm or
tomado could easily do significant damage to our electric system. While we usually assume, FEMA will
step in and save us that may not be the case. If it is a small enough event, FEMA may not recognize it
as a disaster. Even storm damage that does not rise to the disaster level could be expensive to repair
and far exceed what we have budgeted for system maintenance. Also, even if it is declared a disaster,
the entire cost might not be reimbursed by FEMA. It is imperative that we have sufficient reserves to
handle such an emergency. Of course the reserves in both the General Fund and Enterprise fund
could be used but I believe having an emergency storm fund would also be prudent. I would suggest
saving 2% of actual electric revenue each month to fund an emergency stone fund. This would save
approximately $150,000 a year. Assuming we did not have to spend any of it, this would give us over
$1,000,000 in seven years.
We have made great headway in building up reserves the past few years, but we still have away to go.
By following this plan, we can have the GFOA recommended level of reserves on hand in three to five
years. Further, we will be well on our way to building an emergency stonn fund by then and will have
fully reached our goal in seven years.
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