Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

Councilor Bettman said as she went through the budget and reviewed the working capital she understood that about one-third of the $12.9 million was grant money and reappropriations. She noted that in looking at the telecom registration/licensing fund, the beginning working capital had an additional $1.2 million. She asked for an explanation. Ms. Murdoch responded that she would have to look it up specifically. Her best guess was that it consisted of unspent funds from the previous year that were allocated for projects that were not yet completed. She reiterated that the beginning work in capital adjustment always consisted of more revenue or fewer expenditures than had been anticipated when the budget was created months earlier. Councilor Ortiz asked if the language that Mr. Barofsky was concerned with could be brought back into the budget document. Ms. Murdoch replied that the council could pass a policy to do so. Councilor Ortiz averred that even if it was no longer required by State statute the council should ensure that it stayed embedded in the budget policy. Ms. Murdoch stated that the current public process already requires an advertisement with notice for a public hearing. Councilor Bettman asked if the negative balance in the beginning working capital for the Municipal Airport Fund was attributable to money transferred out in order to build a transfer facility from Connect Oregon money. Kurt Corey, Public Works Director, replied that he was uncertain but this would be a good assumption. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Ms. Murdoch explained that the beginning working capital adjustment across all funds on a $500 million budget was a reduction of $6.2 million. She stated that there had been increases across all funds in this supplemental budget of $8.3 million that went into the operating budget. She said the capital budget had been reduced by almost $2 million in this supplemental budget. Additionally, there had been transfers, increases to reserves, and balance available as a result of the change in beginning working capital. Councilor Bettman asked if this represented an indirect transfer if one was decreasing and the other funds were increasing. Ms. Murdoch replied that this was not so; the supplemental budget had to do with resources and how spending came out and what the audit said happened in the previous year. She reiterated that the process sought to adjust estimates in the case of the working capital reconciliation and there were also reserves for capital and encumbrances for purchase order reconciliations. She underscored that the supplemental budget dealt with a variety of accounting adjustments. Councilor Bettman commented that there was a point at which there would be a supplemental budget because the budgeting process “guessed” at what the beginning working capital would be and when the money came in over that amount then it “gets plugged into different departments.” She declared that the council did not have a discussion about that money; “it just shows up like this and is a big number.” She asked why excess money was not being put into the reserve for revenue shortfall. Ms. Murdoch clarified that the $8.3 million was not General Fund money, rather it was from all different funds including the Telecom Fund, capital projects funds, wastewater funds and so on. It was not necessarily money that could be placed into the reserve for revenue shortfall. Mayor Piercy asked if any councilors objected to taking action at the present meeting. Councilor Bettman indicated that she opposed taking action at this time. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 9 Regular Meeting