2017 Year End Transfers

Year End Transfers of funds are something we do each February to address some budgeted transfers and manage cash in such a way as to bank for the future.  The majority of these transfers are done to add cash or redeem cash through the Revolving Capital Fund. The Revolving Capital Fund is a fund that is used to balance cash flow needs from one year to the next or beyond.  The fund contains categories to segregate funds that are earmarked.  As example there a Police line item, a Public Works line item, and others to define what funds are who’s so budgeting for future expenditures can be managed. 

When doing the budget, we anticipate some revenues will come out of this fund and others will be placed in this fund.  Funds that were budgeted for capital expenditures in a budget cycle that are unspent get allocated to the appropriate department at year end.  This avoids the last minute expenditures to use these funds before a new budget cycle begins.  The goal is to have expenditures planned and budgeted for.  Without this approach unspent funds would otherwise become general fund reserves with no earmark or designation. 

We also budget funds to transfer to the Revolving Capital Fund.  With Public Works we budget for both current capital expenditures but also $50,000 to be placed in the Revolving Capital Fund.  The purpose of these funds is to bank money to be used for large upcoming expenditures.  A plow/dump truck carries a price tag of $250,000 to $300,000.  Having cash to purchase one of these makes more sense than going into debt to acquire the piece of equipment. 

  

Another scheduled transfer is with the sewer fund.  We have two funds that are used for the sewer enterprise.  One fund deals with operations and another deals with long range capital expenditures.  Each year capital expenditures are budgeted in operations but we also budget for a transfer to the Sewer Capital Project Fund.  This fund provides for expenses such as major upgrades to the sewer system.  A transfer of $68,242 was made to this fund.

In summary this year we placed funds into the Revolving Capital for road improvements from assessment revenues in the amount of $208,833.85.  Moving funds from the General Fund to Revolving Capital Fund for various earmarks was $75,207.16.  Taking funds from the Revolving Capital Fund to balance expenditure made in the General fund amounted to $72,296.32. 

With a change in budgeting for 2018 a number of these transfers will not occur as accomplished in the past.  Many of the revenues and expenditures have been budgeted in the Revolving Capital Fund.  Some transfers will still need to be made but hopefully the year end process will be simplified with the new approach.   

New Tools for Public Works

Public works received approval to purchase a couple of pieces of equipment that were budgeted for at the February Council meeting.  These should improve efficiency and provide for better diversity in operations. 

The first piece of equipment approved was a Bobcat 5600 Toolcat.  This is a commercial quality utility vehicle that combines the abilities of a skid steer and an ATV.  This piece of equipment will include a 7-foot Brush Buster Max rough cut mowing deck.  This will be primarily used at the sewer plant.  The mowing deck is 2 feet wider than current equipment and has a greater ability to deal with higher and thicker grass.  This allows the ability to reduce the frequency of mowing.  As a Toolcat it has the ability to use any skid steer attachment.  It is also equipped with a climate controlled enclosed cab to increase operator safety from environmental hazards present at the sewer plant such as falling branches, sun exposure and mowing in dusty conditions; something lacking in current sewer plant mowers.  This equipment will replace the Ex-Mark Laser Z mower and Polaris Ranger at the sewer plant.  The mower will be sold and the Polaris Ranger will be retained for park’s garbage collection duty.  This equipment was purchased through state bidding at a price of $54,812. 

The other piece of equipment approved for purchase was a four-wheel drive/four-wheel steer lawn tractor with bagger for mowing parks, common grounds and the Disc Golf Course.  The Disc Golf Course has steep grades and a more capable and safer mower was needed.  Having a bagger increases efficiency with park operations as leaf pickup operations were largely done by hand.  The equipment to be purchased is a John Deere X739 four-wheel drive/four-wheel steer lawn tractor with a Cyclone Rake to handle the leaf bagging operations.  This unit will replace the John Deere M653 zero turn and John Deere 316 mowers which will be sold or traded. $20,000 was budgeted for this purpose and the cost from state bids was $17,569.32. 

These items have been ordered and efforts will be made to sell the equipment stated using sealed bids.  In the event bids aren’t received or are less than the stated trade in values they will be trade upon receipt of the new equipment.  We continue to look for ways to improve operations and efficiency and I believe these equipment purchases are a step in that direction.

New Leadership

My time in Breezy Point as Administrator is coming to a close.  I will retire on March 15^th of this year.  The city council has been busy with a search for a new Administrator.   A total of 26 applications were revived.  Twelve candidates were selected for further review of which two dropped out.  The city council considered the remaining ten to consider as finalists.  Five Candidates were selected to be interviewed. Of the five one was offered a job and another candidate dropped out, leaving us with three.  One of the original ten was added to the mix who agreed to continue with the process but later that day dropped out.  The remaining three were interviewed. 

During the interviews two candidates stood out.  There were both experienced and showed their strengths.  In consideration by the city council one candidate was selected to make the offer to.  This candidate was from Arizona but had family in Minnesota.  She grew up in Minnesota attending college in St. Cloud.  The offer was made and after her discussion with family members they decided to remain in Arizona, turning down the offer. 

The other strong candidate was asked if he was still interested in the position and he stated he was very interested.  The city council held a special meeting to consider the alternate candidate.  A motion was made to offer the position to Patrick Wussow.  A contract was negotiated and considered by the city council at their February meeting.  Patrick Wussow was be starting with the city March 12, 2018. 

We welcome him and may the future of Breezy Point be bright with his leadership.