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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999 01-07 FCM• MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FINANCIAL COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER JANUARY 7, 1999 CITY HALL, CONFERENCE ROOM B CALL TO ORDER. Chair Donn Escher called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in Conference Room B. ROLL CALL Present at roll call was Chair Donn Escher, Commissioners: Larry Peterson, Jay Hruska, Tim Elftmann and Gavin Wilkinson. Also, present were Council Liaison Kay Lasman, City Manager Michael McCauley and Finance Director Charlie Hansen. Commissioner Jerry Blamey was absent and excused. Commissioner Stanley Leino was absent and unexcused. Agenda. A motion was made by Commissioner Jay Hruska to approve the agenda. Commissioner Gavin Wilkinson seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. Annroval of Minutes. A motion was made by Commissioner Gavin Wilkinson approve the minutes of the November 5, 1998 meeting. Commissioner Tim Elftmann seconded the motion and all members voted in its • favor except for Commissioner Larry Peterson who abstained. Annual Meeting. Chair Donn Escher announced the annual meeting and asked for nominations for the position of Chair for 1999: Jay Hruska nominated Donn Escher to be the Chair. Gavin Wilkinson seconded the nomination. All members voted in favor of the nomination. Chair Donn Escher appointed Jay Hruska to be Vice Chair. Discussion of Standard Meeting Date for 1999. A motion was made by Commissioner Larry Peterson to retain the first Thursday. of each month as the standard meeting date of the Financial Commission with meetings to be called by the Chair as needed. Commissioner Tim Elftmann seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. Discussion of the numose of the Financial Commission. Donn Escher reviewed the background of the Financial Commission. He read the purpose as stated in Resolution 92-168 which created the Financial Commission: to evaluate the cost effectiveness of City services, programs, and functions in response to higher cost of service delivery, mandates, and a trend of decreasing intergovernmental revenues to cities. Discussion followed regarding whether the Financial Commission is still fulfilling that purpose or if the mission should be restated. The item is to be continued on the next agenda for further discussion. Review of Adeauate General Fund Balance Policv Formula. Charlie Hansen reviewed the purpose of the formula and explained that a new financial reporting 2 • standard will distort the fund balance. This new standard requires the city to report as income or expense the unrealized gains or losses on its investment portfolio. These gains or losses occur because of changes in interest rates. When securities are purchased, they carry an interest rate which reflects the market for interest rates that day. As time passes, the market interest rate for securities with the same maturity and characteristics either rises or falls. The resale value of the securities in the city's portfolio changes according to the relationship between the interest rate they are paying compared to the current market interest rate. This change in the resale value of the securities is called an unrealized gain or loss as long as the city continues to hold the security. The city has a policy of holding securities to maturity. As long as that is done, there is no real gain or loss. The security pays the interest rate stated on the day it was purchased and the full principal is returned at maturity. Reporting the unrealized gains or losses changes the fund balance in ways that don't reflect spendable resources. The purpose of the adequate fund balance policy is to determine the level of fund balance that is needed in the General Fund and any excess amounts which are available to be transferred for other use by the City Council. The proposed change in the formula either subtracts out unrealized gains or adds back unrealized losses so that the fund balance reflects spendable resources. Mike McCauley stated that the change is intended to keep the formula functioning the same way it has in the past in spite of the change in financial reporting requirements. Commissioner Gavin Wilkinson moved to recommend to the City Council the proposed change in the Adequate General Fund Balance Policy Formula. Commissioner Jay Hruska seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. Discussion of specifications for the Request for Pron_ osals for Insurance Agent. Charlie Hansen explained that the policy of financial professional services calls for an RFP to be done in 1999 for the city's insurance agent. The current agent has served the city for about eleven years and is paid on a flat fee basis rather than by commission on premiums. Policies to cover the city for property and casualty risks are presently being put in place for 1999. Another area is insurance for employee benefits. The major coverage is medical insurance which is provided through a joint powers agreement rather than by the city's own agent. Other employee benefits, such as dental insurance, are procured by the city alone. The policy for dental insurance is up in June 1999 and this drove the schedule of events for selecting the agent by March 22, 1999. Subsequent discussion of the RFP with the city's risk management consultant yielded two recommendations. First was that the RFP shouldn't require that one agent handle both the city • insurance and the employee benefit insurance. The second recommendation was that since the city insurance is the greater portion of the insurance, the RFP should be timed according to that renewal. This would have the RFP done in the third quarter of the year instead of the first. 3 0 After discussion, it was decided to hold this item over to the-next meeting. Citv Manager Updates. Michael McCauley provided updates on the Brookdale Center and several other developments and events in the city. Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Financial Commission will be on Thursday, February 4, 1999 at 7:00 P.M. ADJOURNMENT. Commissioner Gavin Wilkinson moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 P.M. Commissioner Larry Peterson seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. • 40 4