Laserfiche WebLink
Ayes: Councilmembers Brown, Cook-Kallio, Pentin, Mayor Thorne <br /> Noes: None <br /> Absent: One Vacancy <br /> 15. Accept the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and other related audits for the year <br /> ending June 30, 2012 <br /> Finance Director Wagner presented the staff report, stating that the Comprehensive Annual Financial <br /> Report (CAFR) is prepared annually by City staff and audited by an independent accounting firm. <br /> Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. is a local firm in the second year of a 3 year contract with the City. <br /> The CAFR, prepared following the guidelines recommended by the Governmental Finance Officers <br /> Association (GFOA) and the standards adopted by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board <br /> (GASB), is dated June 30, 2012. It contains an unqualified clean opinion, which means the auditors <br /> took no material exceptions to the City's financial reports. For the 15th consecutive year, the City's <br /> CAFR has met the highest standard in government accounting and financial reporting, for which the <br /> GFOA has issued the City a certificate of achievement of excellence. <br /> Ms. Wagner reviewed the highlights of the financial statement. She reported that total assets exceeded <br /> liabilities by $872.4 million at the close of the fiscal year. Of this, $157.8 million is unrestricted funds <br /> and of this amount, $101.5 million is contained in governmental funds to be used mainly for operating <br /> purposes. The City's total outstanding debt is $25.7 million, the majority of which relates to the Callippe <br /> Golf Course. <br /> She discussed unfunded pension and other post retirement benefit (OPEB) obligations, which are <br /> disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. Proposed legislation known as GASB 68 would <br /> change this current practice so that pension liabilities are recorded against net assets. If The City were <br /> to implement this new rule today, an additional $119.7 million in liabilities would be recorded against <br /> assets, thereby reducing unobligated, uncommitted and available assets to $38.1 million. The proposed <br /> change however does not take effect until the June 30, 2015 financial statements. <br /> She noted that the pension obligations disclosed in the CAFR are prepared on an actuarial basis, as of <br /> June 30, 2011, and are based on CaIPERS assumptions about life expectancy, reinvestment rates, <br /> salaries, and benefit packages. "Entry age normal accrued liability" represents the total outstanding <br /> pension liability for all those who have retired and those currently employed, separated by bargaining <br /> unit. Less the value of assets paid into the pension program, which again are based on an actuarial <br /> value that assumes a reinvestment rate of 7.5%, the unfunded actuarial liability including retiree <br /> medical is $131 million. The financial statements also provide a market value alternative to the CAFR <br /> disclosure. Using the same accrued liability determined by PERS, the net present market value of <br /> unfunded liability is $162.2 million due to the decreased market value of assets. <br /> Ms. Wagner reviewed changes to the pension and OPEB obligations over the last three years. In an <br /> actuarial basis, the unfunded liability grew from $120 to $135 million and then decreased by 4% this <br /> past year to a net total of $131 million. Using market value, the liability grew from $180 to $185 million <br /> but decreased by 13.8% this past year to $162 million. In examining the funding ration, the actuarial <br /> value has remained near the benchmark of 80% since 2006. However the market value, which was <br /> almost 100%, has decreased to an average of approximately 70% within specific categories. <br /> The Council has expressed significant concern about the present and future pension liability and in <br /> 2011 adopted a fiscal policy aimed at reducing the liability by at least 10% over the next 5 years. In <br /> order to achieve this policy, $1 million has been set aside annually into a PERS Stabilization Fund used <br /> to pay down the liability. As labor agreements have expired, the City has negotiated the pickup of the <br /> PERS employer rate by the employee and reduced retirement benefits for future hires. The City also <br /> City Council Minutes Page 6 of 9 February 5,2013 <br />