Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br /> <br />Financial Management Policies <br /> <br /> <br />Purpose <br />The City of Elk River is responsible to its citizens to manage its resources wisely and adopting <br />financial policies is an important step to ensure that resources are managed responsibly. The <br />policies provide the framework for the overall fiscal management of the city and guide the decision- <br />making process. <br /> <br />Most of the policies represent long standing principles, traditions and practices which have guided <br />the city in the past and have helped maintain financial stability over the past years. These financial <br />policies will be reviewed periodically to determine if changes are necessary. <br /> <br />Objectives <br /> <br /> <br />Providing sound principles to guide the decisions of the City Council and management. <br /> <br /> <br />To provide both short-term and long-term financial stability to city government by ensuring <br />adequate funding for providing and protecting infrastructure needed by the community <br />today and for years to come. <br /> <br /> <br />Protecting and enhancing the city’s credit rating and prevent default on any municipal <br />obligations. <br /> <br /> <br />To protect the City Council’s policy-making ability by ensuring that important policy <br />decisions are not constrained by financial problems or emergencies. <br /> <br />Revenue and Expenditure <br /> <br /> <br />The city will provide long-term financial stability through sound short and long term <br />financial planning. <br /> <br /> <br />The city will estimate its annual revenues and expenditures in a conservative manner so as to <br />reduce exposure to unforeseen circumstances. <br /> <br /> <br />The city will project revenues and expenditures for the next five years and will update these <br />projections each budget process. <br /> <br /> <br />Whenever user charges and fees are determined to be appropriate and the direct benefits are <br />identifiable, the city will establish user charges and fees at a level related to the cost of <br />providing the service (operating, direct, indirect, and capital). Fees will be reviewed annually. <br /> <br /> <br />To the extent feasible, one-time revenues will be applied toward one-time expenditures or <br />placed into reserves. One-time revenues will not be used to finance ongoing programs. <br /> <br />Utilities <br /> <br /> <br />The City Council sets fees and user charges for municipal sanitary sewer utility and garbage <br />collection. The Utilities Commission sets fees and charges for the water and electric utilities. <br />The city will encourage the Utilities Commission to adopt financial management policies <br />similar to the policies stated in this section. <br /> <br /> <br />The city will strive to set users fees for municipal utilities at a level that creates financially <br />sustaining enterprises. <br />Financial Management Policies Page 1 <br /> <br />