CSMFO Magazine July 2016

CSMFO CALIFORNIA SOCIETY OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERS

M A G A Z I N E

JULY 2016 #5

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CALIFORNIA SOCIETY OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERS

M A G A Z I N E JULY 2016 #5

NOW IS A GOOD TIME

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2016 Board of Directors President John Adams, City of Thousand Oaks President-Elect Drew Corbett, City of San Mateo Past President Jesse Takahashi, City of Campbell Barbara Boswell, City of Lancaster Jimmy Forbis, City of Monterey Brent Mason, City of San Bernadino Marcus Pimentel, City of Santa Cruz Karan Reid, City of Concord Chu Thai, City of Monterey Park Executive Director/Editor Melissa Dixon, MBA, CAE Editorial Designer & Photographer David Blue Garrison Additional Photography Pexels, Pixabay and Stocksnap

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The California Society of Municipal Finance Officers is the statewide organization serving all California municipal finance professionals. We promote excellence in financial management through innovation, continuing education and the professional development of our members. CSMFO members are deeply involved in the key issues facing local agencies. We value honesty and integrity, and adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Thank you to all the authors in this issue for sharing with us their time and expertise. If you have an idea for a future article, please contact Melissa Dixon at the CSMFO office at melissa.dixon@staff.csmfo.org.

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For more information on CSMFO or this Magazine, please contact the CSMFO office at 916.231.2137 or visit the website at www.csmfo.org.

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CONTENTS JULY 2016

6 President’s Message

25 Change, Choice and the Business Model

8 Executive Director’s Message

30 A Conversation with Josh Betta & CSMFO

9 Best & Safe Practices for SUI Options 10 Budget Mentoring Available for New Budget Reviewers 12 Budgeting for the True Cost 15 Balance the Future 17 Professional Standards and Recognition Committee 19 Presenting the Budget to Your Constituents 22 A Finance Officer’s Budget Work is Never Done!

President John Adams

33 CSMFO Award Programs 34 Wanted: Budget Reviewers!

36 The Drought is Over – Now’s the Time to Develop

Drought Rates

40 Going North of the Border to Raptors Country 43 Diary of a Host Committee Chair 45 Careers: Job Opportunities

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The Beginning of a New Budget H

PRESIDENT’S LETTER JOHN ADAMS

JOHN ADAMS FACTS

John had a piggy bank as a kid, but it was often empty as he always spent it on “stuff”.

appy New Fiscal Year!! Congratulations, for many of you July just happens to be the start of the fiscal year and hopefully the beginning of a new budget. As July starts, there usually is a little relief as it comes after a long budget process that started many months before. In Thousand Oaks, our budget process starts 6-7 months before adoption, which makes the process…long. The nice thing about Thousand Oaks is we adopt a two-year budget, so we only do the process once every two years, which makes up for the longer-than-usual process. This does highlight the fact that the budget process is really unique for each agency and reflects the unique characteristics of each.

1. Strong Forecast of Revenues – This month, the CSMFO Magazine It is important to properly forecast has a few articles that will focus on revenues to know the potential resources budget and hopefully give you things to available to support public services. think about the next time you start the Remember, focus on major revenues as budget process. Just like year-end, the 80 percent of revenues come from a budget process will start before handful of sources. It is always you know it and it is never helpful to have a rolling too early to plan to long-term forecast of your improve the process. major funds to give For Thousand Oaks, the City Council a we are starting “...the budget process clear view of what is now to plan for ahead, which helps will start before you the 2017-19 them make the right Budget. The main know it and it is never decisions today that emphasis for the too early to plan to will impact you in next budget cycle the future. improve the process” is “engagement”.

2. Understanding For many of you, Major Cost Drivers – you already engage Just like revenues, major your community in some expenditures can have format. For Thousand a significant impact on your Oaks, we want to improve budget and it is important to understand our community engagement especially since resources continue to decline with the major cost drivers. Since we provide public services, salaries increased demands on infrastructure and benefits are usually our largest funding. Understanding what the expenditure, but understanding pension expectations and the priorities of the costs and how decisions at CalPERS community are will ensure City Council impacts your future costs is critical. adopts a budget that reflects the needs of the community.

3. Understanding Community As I thought about writing the July President’s Message, I was thinking what the most important elements of a great budget process are. Most government finance officers will probably agree on a majority of the important elements, but for me there are just a handful that are critical. Here are my top five:

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Priorities – Knowing the community priorities will ensure resources are allocated accordingly. This will assist in maintaining community support, and will be helpful should you consider a revenue measure.

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4. Funding for Infrastructure – The easiest thing to do is not to properly fund capital improvement projects, simply because prioritizing current services is critical and you can’t see the immediate effects of not properly funding infrastructure for decades.

5. Maintain Reserves – The budget process is about making difficult decisions, and using reserves to avoid those tough decisions is not prudent long-term. If you are fortunate to have adequate reserves, use them to properly maintain infrastructure and other important capital assets.

In addition to key elements that make a great budget, there are some items to avoid as well. Here are my top five:

1. Don’t Balance the Budget with One-Time Fixes

2. Avoid Adding New Services without New Revenues 3. Misapplying a Temporary Windfall

4. Shortchanging Pension and Other Long-Term Obligations

5. Making Unrealistic Revenue Projections On the items to avoid, take the opportunity to develop “Budget Policies” for your organization that limits or eliminates the items to avoid. If your City Council agrees in concept on the areas to avoid, the process will be even better. Remember, your agency budget serves as a policy document and spending plan. The budget does communicate your community’s priorities, and it is the City Manager’s opportunity to communicate a story to the City Council and community. It is our responsibility to ensure that story is as clear and as transparent as possible.

PRESS REPLAY ON THE CSMFO WEBINAR ARCHIVE Were you able to catch the CSMFO Webinar: “Best Practices in Budgeting” covering the GFOA Guidelines? The CSMFO Coaching Program and the Career Development Committee sponsored this free Webinar for CSMFO members. There were 115 locations with an estimated attendance of 255 municipal finance professionals throughout the state. If you missed it, you can go to the CSMFO website, navigate to the training page and see the whole presentation from the comfort of your office or for the diehards, your home. I want to thank Jimmy Forbis, Grace Leung and Don Maruska for putting on this training event. Please check it out along with other past webinars on the CSMFO website.

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Tell Me a Story…

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S LETTER MELISSA DIXON

MELISSA DIXON FACTS

Melissa’s piggy bank growing up was actually a false electrical outlet... very James Bond...

love budgets. I love budgeting. Now, admittedly, the budgets I get to interact with are on a much smaller scale than yours. When I first started with CSMFO, the budget awards were still being done in hard copy. What we received from the previous administrator (all we received, it turned out, but that’s another story) were several boxes of budgets. I’d never before seen a municipal budget, and was frankly floored by the size It’s not just the math, though; budgets of them. I remember one of them was tell the organization’s story. Any time four four-inch binders all by itself. I our firm considers a new client, I go can’t even begin to fathom how much first to the financial reports (or their work goes into what you do. From this most recent 990, whatever I can find). constituent—thank you. Your efforts and Where an organization spends its fiduciary oversight are appreciated. money, where it gets its money from, all of that tells me what’s important The organizational budgets to that group’s culture. Take under my purview are CSMFO, for instance. Our much simpler, but I annual conference revenues look forward to exceed half a million the process every dollars each year (2016 time. Budgeting “ I can’t even was over $800,000). means planning, Membership income begin to fathom and that’s is roughly $200,000, right in my how much work and everything else wheelhouse. goes into what you is relatively negligible How many in comparison.

On attendees do.” the expense side, the do we expect conference costs the most, at next year’s followed by consultants. All conference? What of this tells me that education percentage of members and networking are most important will renew, and how many to CSMFO, along with providing new members will join? What will our consultant contracts look like next year? sufficient professional support to not If I’m budgeting in September and using overburden the volunteers. For another client of mine, they spend over half their August’s actuals as a base, I can take 1/8 of the storage expense and multiply income on regulatory and public policy it by 12 to get an estimate for the entire affairs; and sure enough, that’s what’s most important to their members. For year, and then use that to budget for SMA, our staff accounts for over 80% of next year. Merchant fees, however, our total expenses. wouldn’t work the same, because the majority of our credit card transactions occur in the first three and last two months of the year (around conference registrations and membership renewals).

Once upon a time in my life I was really into math (I was a mathlete in elementary school, got through Calculus II at the local JC by my senior year in high school) and budgeting satisfies the piece of me that enjoys that kind of logic puzzle.

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I’ve never sat down and reviewed any of your budgets, but maybe it’s time that I did! I wonder what stories your financial statements could tell.

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Best and Safest Practices for SUI Options First Nonprofit Group’s “Financial Mechanics of Funding SUTA” series

Making the election to opt out of paying the state unemployment tax in favor of reimbursing the state for future benefits paid to former employees may complicate the budget process, upset typical cash flow, and create uncertainty about potential risks. But the best and safest options for managing the perils are very clear.

THE PROBLEM: Attaining maximum use of every dollar of revenue requires a rigorous and strategic effort from nonprofit organizations, governmental entities and tribal enterprises, EVERY YEAR! The center point for that effort is always the “Annual Budget” formation, which for many fluctuates capriciously often because of: • Competition for services and funding dollars • Changing state funding • Changing federal financial support • Regulatory compliance issues • Changing workforce problems and necessities Yet when those complications threaten the budget process, use of thoughtful, strategic options sustains and supports positive cash flow, sustained compliance and reliable protection.

BEST AND SAFEST PRACTICES: Employers successfully transfer risk and manage a variety of diverse liabilities (property & liability, auto, workers’ compensation, umbrella, D&O, etc.) by engaging specific insurance products. It is indisputable that an insured risk by a reliable, reputable insurance company is the safest solution for defending against unknown future liabilities. Accordingly, liability such as State Unemployment Insurance is similarly effective. Here are five of the best and safest solutions available for managing the State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) cost: 1. Bonded Service Program: Risk free, first and last-dollar coverage with claims administration 2. Unemployment Savings Program: Proprietary interest-bearing reserve with claims administration and stop-loss insurance 3. Excess Loss Insurance: “Working Excess Coverage” fits level of risk retention that works best for the employing entity 4. Surety Bonds: Required in many states for “reimbursing employers” 5. Group Program Management: Program formation, consultation, risk transfer design and administration for nonprofit entities, governmental entities and tribal enterprises

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INSIDE LOOK

Budget Mentoring Available for New Budget Reviewers Sara Roush, Accounting Assistant, Sacramento Regional Fire EMS Communications Center

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re you new to governmental accounting? Would you like to learn more about government finance? Get involved with CSMFO and volunteer as a budget reviewer! As we look toward the future and in order to keep up with the increasing number of budget award submissions each year, the Professional Standards and Recognition Committee continues to need new professionals to be a part of the review process. As many local governments have limited training budgets and/or opportunities to develop staff, the Committee provides individuals who are new in their careers to the budget process with an opportunity to learn the steps to review these budget documents by pairing them with an experienced budget reviewer.

resource for you as you progress in your career in government finance.

SARA ROUSH

When you sign up to be a budget reviewer, please indicate on the application form if you would like to be mentored. The Committee has recruited experienced budget reviewers who have reviewed budgets for the budget award programs for many years. If you have little to no experience in government The Professional Standards and finance, please do not hesitate to sign Recognition Committee has recently up – all government members are developed a Budget Reviewer Mentoring welcome! The Committee will make Program. In order to be considered sure that you are partnered with an for the Budget Reviewer Mentoring experienced budget reviewer who will Program, members must sign up to help you succeed. This program has be a budget reviewer. To become a great value for those who are willing budget reviewer, please download to volunteer. Learning the budgeting the application form from the training process will help you to gain experience opportunities page of the website and in financial reporting. Forming submit it as indicated in the instructions. relationships with other government employees provides an invaluable

Getting involved in the CSMFO is the best way to maximize your CSMFO membership. Member participation not only makes the organization stronger but also provides networking opportunities and opportunities for continuing education and professional advancement. If you have not already signed up as a budget reviewer, please consider signing up today.

In addition to encouraging members who are new to the budgeting process to sign up for the budget reviewer mentoring program, the Committee is in the process of recruiting experienced professionals interested in mentoring these individuals. Historically, the Committee has provided resource materials on the website to assist budget reviewers. The Committee believes that experienced reviewers can also provide hands-on training to help teach new reviewers the budget review process.

By contributing to their training, experienced reviewers can help develop these new reviewers and support the budget award programs. With your help, we can keep this program

sustainable for years to come. If you are not currently a budget reviewer, but have prior experience and would like to share this experience with a new budget reviewer, please email sroush@srfecc. ca.gov. If you know of someone new to their career who is interested in learning more about the budget award program, please encourage them to sign up as a budget reviewer. Multiple resources will be provided to you to help you succeed in mentoring a new member.

The Professional Standards and Recognition Committee is committed to promoting best practices and maintaining a high standard of excellence in the CSMFO awards programs. This high standard of excellence ensures the value of these

prestigious awards to the benefit of the agencies who receive them. This committee will continue to refine and improve best practices to enhance the resources available for the CSMFO members helping to improve government transparency and accountability in finance. The awards programs are reviewed regularly as new technologies become available that help to improve efficiencies. Technology can only assist with the process. Volunteers are still the main resource allowing for the expedient review of these financial reports. The success of these programs is dependent on you. Thank you for your interest in the success and sustainability of the CSMFO budget awards program.

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Budgeting for the True Cost Nicolie Lettini, CEO & John Vaught, Customer Service Manager, CostTree

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or decades, there was a county in America that was home to a large manufacturing plant. Two years ago, the plant closed its doors. Since then, the county has seen a 20% decrease in property values with stagnant home sales driving a large decrease in property tax collections. Business travel has slowed, driving transit occupancy tax revenues down by 15%. The county’s board of supervisors has been closely monitoring the situation and studying various revenue forecasts with the treasurer/tax collector and the budget officer. The board realizes the situation is not likely to improve in the near-term.

In their reviews, the treasurer and budget officer presented them with two options. Option 1: reduce service levels in the county with staff reductions, project postponements, and employee furloughs. Option 2: increase taxes and service fees. To avoid snowballing the downturn with increased taxes,

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the county’s leadership decided to proceed with a 15% reduction in general fund staff. They decided against a rate increase, as they felt it was just passing the problem downstream. A staff reduction would solve the revenue shortfall for the upcoming years.

factors-in the overhead support services that must be reimbursed to the general fund service departments. The service level reductions that the budget officer has been tasked to put in place will be partially passed on in the form of decreased fees but also decreased service levels. Now he must “In each budget cycle, there determine what services will always be adjustments and to reduce and to what changes” level.

The budget officer returned to his staff to begin preparation of the upcoming fiscal year’s budget and to begin making decisions about which staff could be eliminated from the general fund. As part of the budget process, the budget officer has always prepared a cost allocation plan that lets him provide estimated service charges for things like IT, HR, and facilities support to all departments and funds across the county. These charges let the other operational areas accurately budget for a fully loaded cost of service that

First, the budget officer needs to work with management from across all operational areas of the county to identify where services can be decreased. If staff reductions or other service reductions from these funds were put into place, then the budget officer might be able to further reduce general fund staffing levels. If there are any large projects that require staff increases and are funded by outside sources then the reductions might be offset. He will

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review the prior year’s cost plan with the funds’ management and adjust the predicted service levels based on their internal budgets. The budget officer discusses options for which services can be decreased or postponed.

Perhaps, the planned repainting of the hallways can wait another few years, allowing him to reduce staff from building maintenance. If projects are delayed or staff terminated, then the general fund service departments will be able to decrease their services proportionally. These service units, used as an allocation basis, will be put into the budget scenario cost plan to deliver final estimated charges to these funds and to estimate general fund collection amounts.

and trained. The general fund support departments will have an increased workload that will offset some of the required reductions. Since Public Works will be reimbursing the general fund for the indirect component of the project, the budget officer can offset some of the previously planned staff reductions.

In addition to using the cost allocation plan to budget the final costs to the enterprise and internal service funds, the cost plan can be used to review the levels of service provided and identify areas where a general fund support department will be able to withstand a staff reduction. The cost allocation plan provides a single document with individual service units from all general fund internal support functions. For Upon meeting with the director instance, in addition to countless of Public Works, the other service statistics, the budget officer finds budget officer will be that a project to able to see how many repair a section hiring actions were of a county performed, how road cannot many paychecks be postponed were issued, and has how many already computers were been fully being serviced, funded and how many with federal square feet of grant building space dollars. were being In order to maintained. ensure that the These service county recovers levels can then the indirect cost be compared to component for this departmental staffing to roadwork, the leadership identify operational areas team must calculate the true where a general fund service cost of the project, including both the department will be able to weather direct and indirect costs. The direct costs a staff decrease. For instance, if the of the project have been established and county has five payroll clerks and requested in the Public Works’ budget issues 3,000 paychecks per month but request. However, the indirect costs from management estimates one employee the general fund service departments can handle a workload of 750 are still an unknown. The cost allocation paychecks (750 x 5 = 3,750 paycheck plan must include the required support capacity) then the budget officer knows for this project so that a fully loaded that one of those payroll clerks can project cost can be calculated, budgeted be eliminated. This same logic can be for, and, ultimately, recovered. applied to all employee-related services.

This large new project will need administrative support above and beyond what was provided in prior years. New workers will need to be hired to repair the road; they will need to be issued computers and mobile devices; and they will need to be paid

such as paychecks issues and computers supported, then the city can also reduce the number of IT analysts and payroll personal by 10%. Last, the snowballing effect of both rounds of these reductions should be considered as well when staff reduction decisions are made.

The updated service departments’ budgeted expenditures can now be put into the new cost allocation plan along with the allocation base units. The creation of this cost plan not only helps the budget officer identify the mandated staff reductions, it allows him to pass along accurate cost estimates across the county, so all other funds can accurately budget for their upcoming year. The Public Works director will now be able to recover the full cost of the project and reimburse the general fund for those services. These increased service levels with guaranteed funding will thus offset some of the job cuts.

In each budget cycle, there will always be adjustments and changes.

Whether it is service reductions like this scenario, or large multi-year capital projects that require increases to general fund shared services, a cost allocation plan can be used to better define the levels of service required to predict the costs to all areas of the agency, allowing them to better define their project and service budgets with accurate and transparent documentation. For both project-based and agency-wide budgeting, knowing both the direct and indirect components of the fully loaded cost is critical.

After the capacity analysis is done, there will be a second round of reductions that can be deduced from the cost allocation plan. If the county is planning an across-the-board elimination of 10% of their employees, then any services directly related to employees,

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BALANCE THE FUTURE Michael Newsome, Senior Consultant, Questica In this article, Michael Newsome discusses the importance of balance sheet budgeting and how a fully integrated budgets for income statement, cash flow and balance sheet can provide a much clearer picture of what the future will hold. The article will also discuss how the application of this approach in combination with activity based budgeting can bridge the gap that often exists between near term budgets and long term strategic plans; how the time currently devoted to purely mechanical reconciliations can be used to more effectively plan.

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have always been a great believer in balance sheet budgeting, so when I first entered the world of government budgeting, I was surprised to learn that municipalities rarely prepare complete balance sheet budgets. Agreed, most do prepare reserve and debt forecasts, but these are rarely integrated with the revenue and expense budgets that are prepared for the operating budget book.

While there is uncertainty about all future outcomes, it seems uncanny to me that that uncertainty should be compounded

by the failure to produce fully integrated budgets that provide pro forma statements of cash flow and financial position. Instead, municipalities focus on balancing revenues and expenses. This in itself provides no guarantee that the balance sheet will be balanced and therefore that future cash balances and the accumulated surplus will be sufficient to meet the demands upon them.

This is not a purely academic issue.

Although rare, the truth is that municipalities fail, and not because they failed to produce the budget documents mandated by their governing authorities. While diminishing tax bases combined with an accumulation of debt may be the underlying cause of many municipal failures, I would argue that in most cases it would be possible to predict and address those issues earlier if municipalities made a more concerted effort to budget their future financial positions.

Another reason why preparing a balance sheet budget will become increasingly important is the move towards, and a greater acceptance of, accrual accounting among government institutions and accounting standards bodies in both the United States and Canada. If budgets continue to be prepared on a broadly cash basis while the preparation of financial statements moves in the direction of accrual accounting, the variance reporting that has been a mainstay of budgetary control will become more difficult to understand since many variances will occur simply because of timing differences.

Maintaining a focus on the activities required to provide the services to be delivered is always a good thing. When you think of a budget merely as a collection of dollar amounts that are added together it can give rise to a disconnect between the objectives and priorities of Councils and the Between January 2010 and August 2015 budgets that they approve. It should always be possible to say that this is what we are there were 51 municipal bankruptcy filings trying to achieve for our citizenry, these are in the United States including 9 general purpose local government bankruptcy filings. our options for delivery, this is why we are recommending this particular option, and Two of those occurred in California. It is interesting to note that while municipalities in finally these are the financial consequences of moving forward with that option.

Canada do fail, they are not allowed to file for bankruptcy - instead they are dissolved and merged at the will of their Provincial guarantors.

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While it is always helpful to focus on by those revenues. Again these timing activities, this is particularly true when differences will be reflected in the balance preparing a fully integrated budget. This is sheet. because the manner in which those activities If we take a look at garbage collection are undertaken can have an impact on and recycling services, there are significant cash flow and the balance sheet. For differences in the forecast cash flow and example, if the activities associated with balance sheet depending upon whether the provision of a service are contracted those services are undertaken in out to a third party, the terms of house, or contracted out to a the contract may give rise to a third party. This is true even significant timing difference when there may be little between when the service difference in the forecast is provided and when income statements for “...governments are payment is made; when both scenarios. A study moving generally in the costs are expensed prepared by the City the direction of accrual and when they are paid. of Windsor, Ontario, accounting...�

The only way to validate compared an in house the cash flow consequences scenario with an outsourced is through the preparation scenario for garbage of a balance sheet forecast. collection and recycling. Over Similarly, there can be significant a seven-year period the in house timing differences associated with the option had an operating impact of $42.1 collection of tax revenues and the activities million whereas the outsourced option had undertaken to provide services funded

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an operating impact of $38.2 million. This 10% difference may in itself have swayed the Council in the direction of the outsourced option. But the upfront capital costs of $7.4 million associated with the in house option firmly tipped the scale in that direction.

Those capital costs had a far more onerous impact on cash flow than would have been apparent from an operating budget projection. Further, they would have required the postponement of major infrastructure projects or an increase in the tax levy.

In summary, governments are moving generally in the direction of accrual accounting and if variance reporting is to remain relevant then operating budgets must be prepared on the same basis. However, cash flow forecasting is always a primary concern and it is not possible to validate forecast cash flows without a forecast balanced statement of financial position.

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INSIDE LOOK

Professional Standards and Recognition Committee The CSMFO Professional Standards and Recognition Committee is working on establishing an inventory of existing professional standards (e.g., best practices, white papers, etc.) and is seeking professionals that have practical experience and technical expertise in the following practice areas to serve on the Committee to assist with this project: • Financial Management & Budgeting • Accounting & Financial Reporting • Retirement & Benefits Administration • Treasury & Investment Management • Capital Finance & Debt Administration • Grant Management In light of the recent changes to the CSMFO Bylaws, this opportunity is open to Municipal Members and Commercial Members. Committee members will have a hands-on role in creating a catalogue of Professional Standards, which will be developed into an online resource. Once the Committee has catalogued the Professional Standards, the Committee will determine where gaps exist in order to establish uniform standards and best practices.

This is an excellent opportunity for CSMFO Members to contribute their experience and knowledge for the betterment of the municipal finance profession.

If you are interested in becoming a Member of the CSMFO Professional Standards and Recognition Committee, please fill out the Volunteer Interest Form available on the Professional Development page of the CSMFO website. If you have any questions contact Craig Boyer (Committee Chair) at Craig.Boyer@acgov.org or Jason Al-Imam (Vice Chair) at jalimam@cityoflosalamitos.org.

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Presenting the Budget to Your Constituents Bill Statler, Consultant and Trainer/Retired Finance & IT Director, City of San Luis Obispo

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ow that the Budget is adopted, you are being deluged with constituent requests from throughout your community for presentations on your agency’s financial condition and outlook. (Well, it could happen …)

Okay: maybe not deluged. But it is likely in the aftermath of budget adoption that opportunities may arise to tell your agency’s fiscal story to community groups.

ratios) and most importantly, how the budget stacks up to these. This will help demonstrate strong fiscal stewardship: first, by showing that you have clearly articulated policies to begin with (a good thing!); and importantly, that you follow them. On the other hand, if reserves are below policy levels, for example, then this is also an opportunity to discuss why this is the case and your plan for restoring them to policy levels.

focus on the city as a whole, and place the General Fund in context.

• General Fund Expenditures (Figure 2). With the General Fund in context, show General Fund expenditures by type: operating, capital improvements (CIP) and debt service. In virtually all cases, day-to day operating costs – arresting bad guys, putting-out fires, filling chuck holes and pumping-up volley balls – are going to be the largest Focus on the Fewest Things that category. And if CIP costs are missingI should note that meaningfully Explain the Most Amount of Stuff. in-action and a very small slice (or nonengaging your community and Okay: at some point in your fiscal story existent slice), that’s an important part telling your fiscal story is probably you’re going to present some numbers. of your fiscal story, too. Lastly, it’s an more important during the budget Even the smallest agencies have opportunity to show that the use of debt development and review process than thousands of balance sheet and income financing is modest (or if that’s not the after its adoption. However, the good accounts in their general ledger. The key case, explain the circumstances). news is that the following tips in telling to telling your fiscal story is to focus on • General Fund Operating Costs by your fiscal story work equally well either the most important ones: in other words, Function (Figure 3). With operating during the budget process or after its the fewest things that explain the most costs in context from Figure 2, this adoption. amount of stuff. This is a take-off on the emphasizes how funds are used in Pareto Principle (otherwise known as the delivering day-to-day services: in most Effectively Communicating Complex 80/20 rule): typically, a large amount Numbers. Regardless of size, local cases (as in this example), public safety of effect is caused by a small number government finances can be very is likely to be the most significant factor. of factors. For example, 80% complicated. So what’s the It underscores that if cost reductions are of your sales tax revenues best way of communicating necessary, and public safety is not part come from 20% of your complex numbers? of the solution, then all other services “...a finance officer’s retailers; 80% of your Don’t. Instead, focus on will have to be reduced twice as hard. top responsibilities is TOT revenues come from communicating what • General Fund Operating Costs by 20% of your hotels; and to effectively tell the they mean.

Type (Figure 4). This shows the same 80% of your personnel agency’s fiscal story Linking Goals/ total operating costs as Figure 4 but by problems come from to the organization, Outcomes with type: in most cases (as in this example), 20% of your employees. governing body and the Resources. At the end staffing is likely to be the largest cost Stated simply, community.” of the day, whether area. In this sample, this is directly communicating your fiscal through an intentional related to public safety: police officers story means focusing on your arrest bad guys and firefighters put out process or otherwise, budgets top revenues and expenditures. tell us what’s going to get done in fires. It also shows that if meaningful For example, in most cities, it the coming year (or two); and perhaps and sustainable cost is likely that your top five more tellingly, what won’t get done. reductions are needed, General Fund revenues Your budget story should lead with the this means staffing account for 75% top goals for the year and how the cost reductions to 80% of total budget allocates resources for these. will be required. revenues: focus Depending on your circumstances, it On the other on these. might also be important to identify key hand, for cities areas of unmet needs.

Using that largely cities as an contractFinancial Challenges in Preparing the example, their out their Budget. Highlight the fiscal challenges fiscal story operations, that faced your agency in preparing a this type of balanced budget and the steps you took can often be presented in presentation in meeting them. This could include the five simple can be helpful results of longer-term forecasts; budget graphics that in making that balancing actions reflected in the show where city point.

Budget; and challenges that may remain funds come from ahead.

• General and where they go: Fund Revenues Key Fiscal Policies. In this case, • All Funds (Figure 1).

(Figure 5).

This shows just focus on key ones (like balanced Even if the focus is on the top revenues, with the budget, reserves, revenue/debt service General Fund, it’s useful to first top five accounting for 75%.

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After service charges and other taxes, everything else is just 5%.

On using pie charts: this type of presentation is often the best way of showing the “fewest things that explain the most amount of stuff.” But if this is the goal, be careful that your pie chart only has a few slices! After about six slices, this is not the fewest things anymore; and if there’s “leader lines” for 0.2% for fines and forfeitures, grants or interest earnings, Pareto is turning over in his grave.

Where You’ve Been. In some cases, is may be helpful to show where you’ve been. Figure 6 is a simple example of General Fund revenue trends that highlight the revenue challenges facing this agency. While it doesn’t in this case, it might show how declines have bottomed-out and modest recovery is underway.

Know the Story You Want to Tell – and Tell that One. What’s the plot? Who are the characters? Why do we care what happens to them? What’s the moral?

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

figure 4

figure 5

Wrapping-Up: Zen Finance. One of a finance officer’s top responsibilities is to effectively tell the agency’s fiscal story to the organization, governing body and the community. The key to success is translating the numbers into what they mean in making your community a good place to live, work and play.

figure 6

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A Finance Officer’s Budget Work is Never Done!

John Herrera, CPA, President & Municipal Finance Officer, MuniTemps

M

unicipal finance officers breathe a sigh of relief on June 30th, thankful the six-month “budget dance” is over.

There we are at our desk, everybody’s gone home, and so we lean back in our chair and glance over at that thick budget document, as it sits prominently on your desk. This budget was a team project obviously, but everyone in the organization knows it is the finance officer who is ultimately responsible for the financial integrity of the final budget. So as you leaf through the budget pages, perhaps rereading the Budget Message, or glancing at the colorful charts, graphs, and other key budget schedules, you reflect on the things you did well this year, and make mental notes of the things that didn’t go so well. Ah, it feels good to hold the completed budget document in your hands! However, the budget celebration you enjoy briefly there at your desk is truly short-lived, for you quickly remember the budget work does not end on June 30th. Yes, there’s more budget work to be done during the next six months!

The budget, as the single most important fiscal policy document you bring to your City Council for approval each year, represents the values of your community as perceived by elected officials, as well as the priorities of the organization as envisioned by the City Manager. Your job as finance officer is to facilitate, manage, and craft the budget model that serves as a financial plan to achieve their collective goals in FY 2016-17 and on a long-term basis.

As finance officers, we recognize that budgeting is a year-long process.

Although the summer months of July and August are spent closing the books for

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FY ending June 30th, it is also the time when last year’s budget remains open in the accounting system, overlapping with the first two accounting periods of the new year budget. Municipalities usually close out last year’s budget by August 31st, and any invoices (or other transactions) received after August 31 will be posted against the new fiscal year budget (excluding materiality considerations). However, there’s a lot more budget work that finance officers will need to perform. The following is a partial list summary of the most significant budget tasks to be performed during the next six months:

finance officers use to manage the purchasing system. If the budget is not posted on July 1, the finance officer could end up with unnecessary headaches, so come in on the weekend if necessary to get the budget posted.

Of course if you prepared the FY 201617 Budget using the budget “module” in your accounting system, posting the new budget will only take you a few minutes. Otherwise, assign an Account Clerk to spend a day entering the adopted budget you prepared on Excel, allowing you to simply check the totals

by Department and by Fund to post the budget.

• July (Post New Year Budget): Municipal finance officers know the #1 budget task to be performed after June 30 is the posting of the adopted budget in the accounting system. This involves the data entry of hundreds or thousands of individual revenue and expenditure line-item budget amounts exactly as shown in the enabling budget adoption resolution. This priority budget task must be performed on July 1, or as close to July 1 (but no earlier than July 1), to allow Departments to make purchases to carry out their program of work and service delivery to the community.

Some Departments have their Requisitions prepared even before the new budget is adopted! We don’t want Departments going out and making large purchases without a Purchase Order (PO) because the budget was not posted to the system!

POs are an internal control tool that

• August (Reconcile Last Year’s Budget): The finance officer is responsible for reconciling the original adopted budget from last fiscal year when compared to the final revised budget existing in the accounting system on June 30th. Any variances between the adopted and the revised budget are usually due to budget amendments approved during the twelve months of the fiscal year. Most finance officers post budget amendments immediately following each Council or Board agenda. However, any budget amendments overlooked during last fiscal year can be posted retroactively back to June 30th with the staff report and budget amendment resolution approved by the Council or Board.

This reconciliation of original to final revised budget is required for audit and preparation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (as well as show you didn’t overspend the budget).

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• September (Budget Carryover Staff Report): Every year, the finance officer coordinates with Departments to prepare a list of unspent budget items from the prior fiscal year for carryover into the new fiscal year budget. These may be specific capital equipment which did not get purchased because of other priorities. When the budget carryover list is complete, usually on August 31, the finance officer prepares a prioryear expenditure budget carryover schedule, staff report, and resolution for approval in September. Upon approval, the finance officer will post the budget amendment, augmenting the new budget in the accounting system.

spending plans for effective financial management. More municipalities are moving “off cycle” for approval of the CIP Budget, which means CIP Budget work starts where the Operating Budget cycle ends. Hopefully you started this work in July!

term fiscal sustainability. So as my colleagues, I congratulate you on another successful budget year.

Happy budgeting!

• December (Next Year’s Budget Calendar): December is a slow month for most Departments, however, finance officers use any available down time in December to get a head start on the Q2 QFR, which serves as the Mid-Year Budget report. They also plan and prepare the Budget Calendar for the following fiscal year’s “budget dance” which begins in January. Together with the executive management team, the finance officer gathers feedback from all stakeholders to help the City Manager to establish the game plan and budget instructions to be distributed at the next Budget Kickoff meeting in January.

• October (Quarterly Financial Report for Q1): The Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) for the first quarter (Q1) of the new fiscal year ending September 30th includes a budget and actual fiscal analysis which compares budget performance at Q1 in the current fiscal year As summarized above, with Q1 in the prior fiscal “(the budget is) the single there is little respite year. The insights to be most important fiscal policy from budget work for gained from the QFR are document you bring to your municipal finance officers. important to the finance However, rather than City Council...” officer as this allows for feeling burdened by the identifying budget errors, perennial budget work, noting revenue trends, and finance officers consider this keeping the organization’s an opportunity to stay in front budget on track for the new fiscal of stakeholders to keep telling “the year. story” regarding the organization’s • November (Capital Improvement Program Budget): This is the month for preparing the current-year update to the 5-Year CIP Budget. This budget work integrates the Operating and CIP

finances. Through clear, consistent, and credible communication of the budget and alignment with strategic initiatives of the organization, the finance officer’s budget work is vital in achieving long-

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Change, Choice and the Business Model Josh Betta, Finance Director, Central Basin Municipal Water District

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hange often implies choice, opportunity. Yet change in our profession is approached with caution. Ask any recruiter and they will tell you about the thorny commerce of generating applicant interest in finance officer placements. Perhaps too much caution is at play here.

There are many junctures along the pathways of time and experience where the finance officer faces down the choice to stay or go. These Brexit decisions are professionally critical. And, for the purposes of this treatise, all things being equal with regard to technical skills, several stay or go decision markers sound the call for selfexamination.

abundant in the company of familiar faces.

They might stay. For others the change of scenery, the introduction of new people and new work teams stimulates a different energy. They might go.

had to manage the mine fields of tenured finance officers sold out to manipulating everything so as to always have it their way.

Keeping entitlement thinking distanced from entitled actions is everybody’s obligation.

• Enthusiasm. Many a great finance officer has declined a job out of a recognition that they did not have the passion to make a change -- at that moment in time. No harm. It’s not time to go.

Energy and stamina fluctuate cyclically.

Later, when the curiosity is there and it aligns with energy, choices again appear.

When we stay, on the other hand, we own the responsibility to stoke the engines of enthusiasm to achieve a constant flow of creative renewal and productivity. This can be a big ask.

• Audience. Those that stay can benefit from the occasional second opinion as to messaging effectiveness with elected officials, the CEO and peers. Is the bag of tricks shopworn? Those intent on going don’t get the privilege of assuming that past practices will mesh within a new culture.

Understanding audience is everything. We fail in either scenario at our own peril: the black professional hole of struggle to inspire the confidence of others in our leadership is deep.

• Success. It strains • Leaving. In our personal cliché to say that each life we are accustomed to of us defines success “Ignore pop culture theories others moving on. We differently. Better to move on. Events come and about extroversion. It’s not point out that many of go. It’s simplistic, however, about wearing a lampshade at us haven’t given much to believe that feelings quality time to our the Chapter luncheon” of loss can (or should) be definition. The situation separated from the act of may not be situated. leaving. It follows that in the Whatever the case, those professional sphere some of us that leave will calculate a relate to leaving in terms of forfeiture. high probability for success The fear to go can settle in, yet we don’t based on estimation of what their skill understand it as emotion or fear. We risk set does well, or what they want to learn next, especially if the choice follows a linear blinding ourselves to the exchange, the potential for gain. trail of experience. Those that stay enjoy the hard-earned dividends of operational • Entitlement. You can stay or you can stabilities and systems of workflow that go: nobody gets a free pass on the call to provide a launching platform for institutional this down-and-dirty self-examination. Sure, accomplishments – things they created to we’ve all seen the extremes of self-regard begin with. That’s a great place to be. such as a marginal employee’s rise to power • Relationships. Ignore pop culture theories about extroversion. It’s not about wearing a lampshade at the Chapter luncheon; it’s about understanding the nuanced places inside our emotional makeup that are creativity stimulated by the company of others. For some, stimulation is CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

in an employee union with its attendant transformation and twisted sense of purpose.

From another point of view -- and we all have to own this -- there’s a long list of the battle tested from other departments who’ve

• Pragmatism. Sometimes it’s not about the job at all. Property values and parenting can tie us to place and time, often for the better. The leavers can’t take the moral high ground against traditional values in these instances. Many an itinerant spirit has circulated from job to job with imbalanced expectations, and fell flat each time. Others simply shop their patterns of interpersonal problems from place to place. All this said, for the stayers there are points on the spectrum of practicality when it may not be wise to dismiss professional alternatives out of hand. The chronic leavers might want to explore distinction between opportunity and opportunism. One leads to poor choices.

You’re Leaving? Embrace the Different Business Model Our close-knit executive team in Bell taught me that there’s always a place for Shawshank Redemption quotes. In Andy’s letter to Red near the end of the film, Andy writes, “if you’re reading this, you’ve gotten out. And if you’ve come this far, maybe you’re willing to come a little further.”

When you decide to come a little further, the excitement of mastering a new business model is a powerful reward.

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But, first, a simplified review of the General Fund business model. It is tax driven. If Prop 13 is the parent legislation, then all subsequent actions limiting the revenue options for local government are its progeny. Our generation of finance officer drives the model with regard for balance and equilibrium in service delivery and fiduciary obligation. Application of special revenue and, sometimes, enterprise sources condition decisions for investment in community permanence. At the intersections strategists hope to stimulate tax growth derived from property and transaction, and this is collected in the General Fund.

The special district that relies on rates and charges operates the private business model. It tracks activity within a single enterprise fund. This isn’t a limitation on the experience, however, because the enterprise fund toolbox has more tools than a General Fund. The dynamic elements of capital spending and debt servicing are added in.

Here the government finance officer encounters a fundamental challenge: business model confusion. The deeplyingrained, intuitive drive to balance budgets in General Fund fashion, behavior carefully passed down to successive generations of professionals and elected officials alike, doesn’t easily align with private business model management.

Illustration is useful here. Capital spending on recycled water pipeline projects originates from the same place that supports operational expenses. If we assume that the capital spending is roughly consistent year to year, then each year when the special district prepares its budget, the mix of capital and operational spending will probably result – all other variables held constant -- in deficits of revenue to expense. Net position will decline over time.

What to do? Decision makers and employees accustomed to the dominant General Fund business model (those that left a city, perhaps) need creative and consistent education in the private business model and its distinction from the General Fund model.

It’s equally true that routine application of rate adjustments according to legal and industry methodologies must be made a core component of corporate culture.

Emphasis here is on rate change that is authentic and appropriate. And

yes, Virginia, rate change can mean rate reduction. It’s rare, but it does happen.

If we own the toolbox, we must acquire skillful use of all the tools. The California drought, with its new and evolving conservation requirements, doesn’t excuse the obligation.

The upper yellow oval displays the net revenue requirement – the difference between operating revenue and operating expense -- equating to the target 115%.

Juxtaposition is created by 100% outflow for debt service.

The lower oval offers a glimpse at the second working measurement applied to the The Debt Coverage Ratio District by the credit community: working Central Basin Water District, an issuer of capital and # days cash. The working debt, signed on to a Purchase Agreement in capital measurement captures what the 2010 that powerfully shapes our business District retains. It serves as restraint to model. The District has promised to establish undisciplined capital spending. rates and charges sufficient to create net Putting it all together, the business model revenue that is at least 115% greater than measurements are about what we make from our total debt service costs. operations and what we keep on hand.

The industry measurement of our The word “promise” above is a deliberate performance in achieving 115% use of the vernacular. The Purchase coverage is called the debt coverage ratio Agreement requires management of our (DCR). The DCR is about operating cash operating budget each year to achieve flow. It excludes capital spending. It’s 115% coverage. There’s little other security conceptually similar to the “pre-qualification” for the lender other than the requirement. methodology used by real estate The private, enterprise business model, professionals. premised on rates and charges, doesn’t Expressed mathematically, the DCR is: have taxes to pledge.

DCR = Net Revenue

Debt Service When overlapped graphically on the enterprise toolbox, the business model is displayed below.

Water District Enterprise Fund Debt Coverage Ratio Requirement of 115% 115%

100%

+ Operating Revenues - Operating Expenses - Capital Project Expenses - Debt Service Expenses

= Net Position

Working Capital / # Days Cash Liquidity Measurement (Rating Agencies Standard)

27 CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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Member Highlight

A Conversation with Josh Betta & CSMFO President John Adams

I

n a follow-up to an article (pg. 23) written by long-term CSMFO member Josh Betta, President John Adams recently met with the author in Central LA County. They lunched at the Dal Rae in Pico Rivera, the fabled meeting place for “Southeast” elected officials. Here is a highlight of that discussion.

JA: As a movie buff myself, I can’t

help but like the Shawshank reference.

Anything inspiring that besides your experience at Bell?

JB: Fluency in Godfather lines was almost a requirement in my family back in the day. ‘It’s only business.’ ‘Leave the gun, take the cannoli.’ ‘Did you go to college to get stupid?’ Great stuff. There’s a few pearls in Patton, a childhood favorite – ‘I read your book!’

– and I’ve got a current go-to from Platoon that can only be understood in the right context. I don’t think it would translate to the CSMFO Magazine.

In Bell I found that Doug Willmore’s use of Shawshank material hit a higher standard. It has depth and it’s positive. His favorite line was ‘get busy living or get busy dying.’

(Editor’s Note: Doug Willmore was the first permanently-appointed Bell City Manager following the scandal. He is currently City Manager of Rancho Palos Verdes.)

JA: I guess everybody has heard one version or another about the Bell scandal. Tell us something we don’t know.

JB: Most relate to the stories in terms of what Rizzo and his cronies took from the City. What is less explored is what he left after a 20-year tenure: nothing in terms of business infrastructure. He didn’t lift

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a single development finger. Now there’s no sales tax left to “leak,” and the development community has been well-trained to plan elsewhere. It’s truly a shame because it’s a City of young families; there are small children everywhere. We expanded youth soccer programs and still had a waiting list.

The influence of Angela Spaccia on the creation of the Rizzo empire is really understated, too. She pushed things into hyper-drive at City Hall, and attempted the City of Maywood hostile merger.

That was the beginning of their end. It was Spaccia that Rizzo referred to when he said that ‘hogs get slaughtered.’

JOHN ADAMS

JOSH BETTA

From the standpoint of internal controls, the Bell scandal is a textbook example of the power of universal collusion. He had every decision maker in lock step.

JA: Looking back, do you have any regrets about taking the Bell job?

JB: Hell no. A topquality city manager offered ‘something I couldn’t refuse,’ and I threw down with him.

I think the only regret the team might share is having the door close on finishing the job. After rebuilding the foundations – and we stand tall for that with some proud folks who labor there still -- the challenge lied in achieving political consensus on next steps for

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investment in a business infrastructure.

That was a bridge too far by autumn of 2014 with a March 2015 election on the horizon.

Josh Betta was the first permanent Finance Director in Bell after the scandal. He took the risk in accepting the job and showed tremendous leadership in rebuilding a foundation to promote transparency and open government in the City of Bell.

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31 CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

INSIDE LOOK

CSMFO Award Programs Story By Craig Boyer, Division Chief, County of Alameda Since most local governments have a fiscal year that runs from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, the deadline to submit for most local governments is September 28, 2016. Please contact me if you have a different fiscal year and plan to submit to either of the budget award programs.

Earn Recognition for Your Local Government’s Reporting and Innovation

S

ummertime is here and that means the start of this season’s awards programs! CSMFO currently has four award programs: Operating Budget, Capital Budget, Financial Reporting and Innovation. The award programs were designed to acknowledge local governments who demonstrate best practices in government finance. In the past few years, the Professional Standards and Recognition Committee has received over 100 submissions annually to these award programs.

The Committee wants to continue to encourage participation in these award programs and to provide information about the award programs to local governments who do not currently participate in the award programs.

The award program that currently receives the most submissions is the Operating Budget Award Program. This program was established to recognize excellence in budgeting. There are two types of awards that are available in this award program: Meritorious and Excellence. Local governments who are new to the program can start by applying for the Meritorious Award. This award type provides a list of criteria that need to be included as part of the local government’s budget document. As long as the local government can demonstrate that its budget document includes all of these criteria, it will qualify for the Meritorious Award.

The Excellence Award builds on the criteria presented in the Meritorious Award by adding more subjective criteria to include in the budget document. Local governments are encouraged to not only include these elements, but to do so in a way that enhances the readability and usefulness of the budget document. Excellence Award recipients must satisfy both the Meritorious and Excellence Award criteria in order to qualify for the Excellence Award.

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The third award program is the Financial Reporting (CAFR) Award Program. This program was established CRAIG BOYER as a low-cost alternative to the GFOA CAFR Award Program and to provide The second award program is the local governments with feedback to Capital Budget Award Program. evaluate their readiness to submit to This program was also established the GFOA CAFR Award Program. If to recognize excellence in budget your local government currently submits document preparation, but the focus is its CAFR to the GFOA CAFR Award on local governments who prepare a Program, please do not also submit it to capital budget document that is separate the CSMFO CAFR Award Program. The from their operating budget document.

Financial Reporting Award Program uses The Capital Budget Award Program also the most current GFOA checklists as a has two types of awards: Meritorious guide for evaluating compliance with and Excellence. While the criteria for the requirements of the award program. the Meritorious and Excellence awards This ensures that submissions include all differ from the Operating Budget Award applicable GASB statement reporting Program, the format of the two programs requirements. CAFR submissions are is comparable. Local governments who due no later than 6 months after the have submitted an Operating Budget end of the fiscal year. Since most local Application in prior years will find the governments have a fiscal year-end date format of the Capital Budget Application of June 30, 2016, the deadline for most to be similar. local governments to submit is December The Committee is excited to share that 31, 2016. Please contact me if you have a different fiscal year-end and plan we have converted the budget program to submit to the award program. applications from a quantitative to a qualitative methodology. Criteria will The final award program is the be evaluated as either “proficient” Innovation Award Program. This or “not proficient” with opportunities is a fairly new award program for to award a grade of “outstanding” CSMFO, having been established in on criteria specific to the Excellence 2012. The program was established Awards. The criteria used to evaluate to acknowledge innovation in a variety budgets have not changed from the of finance-related fields, including prior year so the scope of the content accounting, debt administration and that local governments should include technology. Local governments are in their budget documents should be encouraged to submit an application consistent with the prior year. The if they have developed a program that Committee believes that this conversion implements best practices that could in methodology will lead to more be used by other local governments consistency in the grading process and to enhance their level of service to the more descriptive feedback. community. This award program is Operating and capital budget submissions are due no later than 90 days after the start of the fiscal year.

unique from the other award programs offered, as the Committee is authorized

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to grant anywhere from zero to three awards per year. Award winners will receive a plaque from CSMFO, along with an opportunity to present their innovation to the membership at the Breakfast Meeting held on the Friday morning of the 2017 Annual Conference in Sacramento. This is truly a unique opportunity and the Committee is excited to receive applications for this program. The deadline to submit an application for the Innovation Award Program is December 31, 2016.

from the preparation and submission of the application to the receipt of the award. Many of the administrative tasks that are currently handled through manual processes will be automated, which will allow all participants in the award programs to focus more time on the quality of the submissions.

Implementation of the new software is currently planned for completion by the end of Summer 2016.

Last but certainly not least, the Board has approved the Committee’s request to implement new award management software for the administration of the award programs. The software will provide applicants with a single location for the entire award process,

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INSIDE LOOK

Wanted: Budget Reviewers!

Yolanda Rodriguez, Director of Finance & Administrative Services, Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District practice guidelines with other local governments to help them improve their budget document, while helping you become more familiar with your CSMFO network community.

YOLANDA RODRIGUEZ

CSMFO

is looking for individuals who want to be part of an exciting and important team. Budget reviewers are a vital part of the CSMFO Budget Award Programs. Every year CSMFO receives over 100 award applications, submitted by cities and special districts to get their budgets reviewed and considered for an award.

The budgets are reviewed by their peers (volunteers) such as you, who are provided with specific CSMFO Budget Award guidelines. Each volunteer generally receives one or two budgets to review annually, between the months of September through December. The time commitment from the volunteers is approximately 2-3 hours per review. The process of becoming a Budget Reviewer is easy: fill out the Budget Reviewer Application found on the Training Opportunities page: download the application and follow the instructions for submission.

There are great benefits from being part of the CSMFO Budget Review Team, including the opportunity to view a variety of local government budget documents and see what other members are doing with budget presentations.

It also gives you an opportunity to better familiarize yourself with CSMFO budgeting best practices, which can help your local government with a successful budget submission. One of the notable benefits of being a reviewer is that it opens doors to share best

CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

So if you are considering joining the world of budget reviewers, but are hesitating because you think you do not have the experience to be a reviewer – don’t worry – CSMFO provides you with many resources. You have access to CSMFO’s website, where you can find a detailed “set of review guidelines and sample documents” and a “reviewer’s guide”, located under Sample Documents & Guidelines.

Please feel free to contact Wendy Nakamura, Committee Vice Chair, at wendyn@ westbasin.org, (310) 660-6290, with any questions regarding becoming a Budget Reviewer.

CSMFO’s Professional Standards & Recognition Committee continues to seek ways to improve and provide guidance for existing and new Budget Reviewers, such as Budget Mentoring. One of our developments in 2016 is to improve the budget review process by inviting government members new to the budget process to join our Budget Reviewer Team. The Committee will pair you with an experienced Budget Reviewer who will give you guidance in how to review budgets. In addition to creating a Budget Mentoring program, the Committee is also developing recruiting flyers, which can easily be printed out and posted at your workplace making the information accessible to all.

This is a great opportunity to join the world of Budget Reviewers: the benefits of exposure to different local government budget documents; budgeting best practices; and sharing and networking with other local governments; all of these activities are very rewarding. We invite you join our team. The Committee will provide you with the tools and guidance to help you with the review process so that you can provide constructive feedback to the local governments submitting their budgets for award consideration.

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“One of the notable benefits of being a reviewer is that it opens doors to share best practice guidelines with other local governments to help them improve their budget document, while helping you become more familiar with your CSMFO network community. �

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The Drought is Over – Now’s the Time to Develop Drought Rates Sanjay Gaur, Akbar Alikhan & Kevin Kostiuk; Raftelis Financial Consultants

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hurried studies take four to six months before new rates can be implemented. Several agencies took a more proactive approach and had drought rates already established, ready to implement new rates at the beginning of the next billing cycle.

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n April 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board declared the official end to California’s drought emergency, just over a year after water agencies were asked to reduce water use by 25% Statewide. Before water agencies take a collective sigh of relief, it is important to reflect on what the drought taught us and accept that drought will be a recurring issue in California.

to taking the reactive approach . The Consider two medium-sized agencies of equal size, each losing $200,000 per month from reduced water sales – theinonly is one already has drought rates adopted. With adopted drought $1.4M lostdifference revenue foragency Agency A will rates, Agency can implement newarates and stop the hemorrhaging of funds quickly. Agency A shows need to be Brecovered with sizable rate that there is a very real costAgency to taking the reactive approach. The $1.4M in lost revenue for Agency A will adjustment, whereas B will only need to bearecovered with a sizableto rate adjustment, whereas Agency B will only require a small require small adjustment recover adjustment to recover $400K. $400K. Agency A: No Drought Rates APRIL Executive Order Issued Total Revenue Lost: $200K

MAY RFP Issued Total Revenue Lost: $400K

JUN Consultant Selected Total Revenue Lost: $600K

In spring 2015, many water agencies Agency B: Established Drought Rates were caught on the defense when the Governor’s water-use reduction MAY APRIL mandate was coupled with the San Juan Drought Rates Executive Order Implemented Capistrano decision, which required Issued Total Revenue Total Revenue Lost: tiered rates to be justified in order to Lost: $400K $200K be compliant with Proposition 218.

Independently, either the Governor’s PITFALLS OF USING RESERVES TO Executive Order or the San Juan decision would have spurred most water COVER REVENUE SHORTFALLS agencies into action. However, the two The loss of variable revenues often together created an unprecedented results in cost-cutting measures, such as sense of urgency to adopt new water deferred maintenance and reduction rates to reduce legal exposure in customer service resources. from non-compliant tiered Despite the best cost-cutting rates and reduce the efforts, the agency is revenue being lost every likely to incur fixed month from reduced “...there is a operating costs beyond water sales. In reactive what revenues can very real cost to fashion, water agencies cover. Naturally, many were in a hurry to kill taking the reactive agencies turn to ratetwo birds with one study. stabilization or general

approach...”

The hurried, fast-track approach does come with a cost. An aggressive project timeline means fewer opportunities for public engagement and fewer rate structure alternatives that can be considered in a condensed timeframe, potentially overlooking options that may better serve the agency. Even the most hurried studies take four to six months before new rates can be implemented. Several agencies took a more proactive approach and had drought rates already established, ready to implement new rates at the beginning of the next billing cycle.

Consider two medium-sized agencies of equal size, each losing $200,000 per month from reduced water sales – the only difference is one agency already has drought rates adopted.

With adopted drought rates, Agency B can implement new rates and stop the hemorrhaging of funds quickly. Agency A shows that there is a very real cost

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operating reserves to make up for the lack of variable revenues. While the use of reserves may be able to weather a short drought period, it is typically unable to cover losses associated with extended droughts—like the one California recently experienced.

In addition, a signficant shortfall in revenue will increase the risk of an agency not meeting its debt coverage requirements.

In addition, there can be consequences associated with using reserves to cover shortfalls even for short-term droughts. Reserves play an important function with regards to an agency’s ability to incur debt. Healthy annual net revenues are required to maintain favorable debt coverage ratios. Many loans include debt covenants that require the borrower to maintain a minimum debt coverage ratio of 1.25 or greater. Even if the agency is still able to make debt service

JULY Cost of Service Analysis Total Revenue Lost: $800K

AUGUST City Council Workshop Total Revenue Lost: $1.0M

SEPTEMBER Rate Approval / Prop 218 Notice Total Revenue Lost: $1.2M

October Rates Implemented Total Revenue Lost: $1.4M

payments on time, failure to uphold other portions of the loan agreement, such as maintaining a minimum debt coverage ratio, puts the agency in technical default.

Despite a history of on-time debt service payments, technical default can signal to lenders that the agency is experiencing financial trouble and may be a risky borrower. Technical default status can adversely affect an agency’s bond rating, resulting in higher financing costs for future loans. This is of particular importance for agencies that routinely use debt to finance capital projects. In summary, reserves alone are not the optimal tool to weather longterm revenue shortages associated with drought conditions.

To better address drought conditions, agencies are better served by instituting drought rates. A schedule of drought rates clearly delineates the rates of normal conditions from those associated with drought, thereby communicating with the ratepayer the cost of the drought conditions.

WHICH DROUGHT RATE OPTION IS BEST FOR YOUR AGENCY? There are a few drought recovery methods available to agencies wishing to institute drought rates. The three main options for developing drought rates are as follows: 1. Monthly fixed charge—This is a flat surcharge added to monthly service charge that is applied to all customers, regardless of volumetric usage.

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Agencies can also increase the fixed charge for larger meter sizes.

2. Uniform commodity charge—This is a surcharge applied to all volumetric units that does not change betweeen tiers. This option sends a consistent conservation signal to all customers and is still simple to understand.

3. Inclining commodity charge—This is a surcharge applied to all volumetric units that escalates as the tiers increase.

In 2014, the city of Santa Cruz adopted drought rates to address the limited supply of surface water. The City was in the process of issuing debt and needed to show a commitment to revenue stability during drought conditions. Additionally, the City’s average residential use of only 8 hcf (with few high-usage customers), led the City to select the monthly fixed charge as the most appropriate option. As seen in the Table, the fixed charge increases with each stage of the drought. Note that the fixed charge also increases as the meter size increases.

Regardless of the drought option selected, it is a best practice to develop drought rates for the various stages of a drought so an agency is protected should drought conditions worsen or improve. In this case, the City of Santa Cruz can declare a certain drought stage, which dictates which customers cut back and by how much, which conservation programs are being implemented, and the efficacy of drought surchages.

GETTING DROUGHT READY As many agencies experienced last year, there are substantial costs associated with taking a reactive approach. Proactive agencies that have adopted drought rates will be betterequipped to quickly recover costs and limit rate spikes. As the State’s drought conditions improve and water sales begin to normalize, it will be tempting to shift attention to one of the myriad of other issues cities and water districts are faced with. However, it is only a matter of time before the State’s next mandatory cutback and now is our time to prepare.

Alikhan 7/7/2016 In 2014, the city of Santa Cruz adopted drought rates to address the limited supply of surface water. The City was in the process of issuing debt and needed to show a commitment to revenue stability during drought conditions. Additionally, the City’s average residential use of only 8 hcf (with few high-usage customers), led the City to select the monthly fixed charge as the most appropriate option. As seen in the Table below, the fixed charge increases with each stage of the drought. Note that the fixed charge also increases as the meter size increases.

Meter Size ⅝-in. ¾-in.

1-in.

1.5-in.

2-in.

3-in.

4-in.

6-in.

8-in.

10-in.

Stage 1 5% cutback 2.45 2.45 6.13 12.25 19.60 36.75 61.25 122.50 281.75 347.90

Stage 2 15% cutback 6.12 6.12 15.30 30.60 48.96 91.80 153.00 306.00 703.80 869.04

Stage 3 25% cutback 9.79 9.79 24.48 48.95 78.32 146.85 244.75 489.50 1,125.85 1,390.18

Stage 4 35% cutback 13.46 13.46 33.65 67.30 107.68 201.90 336.50 673.00 1,547.90 1,911.32

Stage 5 50% cutback 18.35 18.35 45.88 91.75 146.80 275.25 458.75 917.50 2,110.25 2,605.70

Regardless of the drought option selected, it is a best practice to develop drought rates for the various stages of a drought so an agency is protected should drought conditions worsen or improve. In this case, the City of Santa Cruz can declare a certain drought stage, which dictates which customers cut back and by how much, which conservation programs are being implemented, and the efficacy of drought surchages.

GETTING DROUGHT READY As many agencies experienced last year, there are substantial costs associated with taking a reactive approach. Proactive agencies that have adopted drought rates will be better-equipped to quickly recover costs and limit rate spikes. As the State’s drought conditions improve and water sales begin to normalize, it will be tempting to shift attention to one of the myriad of other issues cities and water districts are faced with. However, it is only a matter of time before the State’s next mandatory cutback and now is our time to prepare.

AUTHORS Sanjay Gaur Vice President, Raftelis Financial Consultants sgaur@raftelis.com Akbar Alikhan Consultant, Raftelis Financial Consultants aalikhan@raftelis.com

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Going North of the Border to Raptors Country John Adams, CSMFO President

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n late May as many CSMFO members did, I attended the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada.

The annual conference is attended by government finance officers across North America, where attendance can range from 5,000 to 8,000 attendees.

It was a very busy conference with lots of sessions and activities to keep me busy.

On Saturday, May 21st, CSMFO President-Elect Drew Corbett and I attended the State/Provincial Update Meeting with representatives of other state associations where we were able to network and get an update from GFOA. Here are the highlights: CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

• GFOA’s Executive Director Jeffrey Esser introduced GFOA President-Elect Marc Gonzales. Gonzales expressed his enthusiasm for working together with state and provincial associations over the coming year.

Local Deductibility, Pensions and Preemption, and Grassroots advocacy.

• Emily Brock, Director of GFOA’s Federal Liaison Center, provided a Washington update on Tax Reform: Tax Exempt Bonds and State/

able to attend a Toronto FC soccer game at BMO Field where they played the Columbus Crew to a 0-0 tie. Also, Johnny and Grant were able

• Mike Mucha, GFOA’s Deputy Director and Director of Research and Consulting, discussed GFOA’s forthcoming “State and Provincial • Stephen Gauthier, Communities Forum,” “GFOA selected a great location where associations will Director of GFOA’s in the center of the city with Technical Services be able to exchange everything in walking distance.” ideas between each other Center, talked about GFOA’s Certified Public and with GFOA. Finance Officers (CPFO) After attending the Program. meeting, Drew and I were

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to attend the game with us. After the game, we headed over to Air Canada Centre, where the Toronto Raptors were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. After monitoring tickets on Stubhub, I ended up buying four really good tickets within 30 minutes of tip off. We had a blast as the Raptors won the game; the fans in Toronto were amazing. The streets after the game were buzzing all night and with Toronto winning game 4 on Monday, the City was hopeful of an NBA Finals appearance. As we know, that did not happen but I can say that I saw Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James play in the season they won the NBA Championship.

Conference sessions started on Sunday and were outstanding.

GFOA typically has five to six concurrent sessions at any one timeslot, which makes it difficult for me to choose a session since they are all so very good. This year I tried to focus on management and leadership topics, but was able to fit in a GASB and Regulatory update. The Opening General Session on Monday featured the 2015-16 GFOA President Heather Johnston, who discussed the multigenerational workforce, with Keynote Speaker Bruce Tulgan giving us a lot to think about when we return to the office.

Tuesday’s Keynote was Richard Florida, who is the world’s leading urbanist.

attendees, which I attended in the Exhibit Hall. GFOA also has a big event on Tuesday night, but the best event at the GFOA conference was the CSMFO Reception on Monday night. This year, the CSMFO Reception was at the CN Tower, and close to 200 people attended. The CN Tower is the famous landmark in Toronto and is 1,500 feet high.

The reception was at Horizon’s Restaurant, which is about 1,200 feet above the city. With beautiful views of the city and a glass floor to look down, the location was perfect. For those that attended, thank you. I know next year, Drew will be hosting another reception in Denver, and we hope to see you there!

As I left Toronto, I did commit to Heather to remind CSMFO that GFOA does need Californians’ help to engage Congress on the following issues:

securities as High Quality Liquid Assets.

3. Enact online legislation requiring retailers to remit local taxes on online purchases.

These three items are very important to government finance officers throughout the nation, and we should be active in supporting GFOA with letters to our representatives in Congress.

Draft letters can be found on the GFOA website on the Federal Government Relations page, I encourage you to follow-up.

In closing, Toronto is an amazing city with world class public services. GFOA selected a great location in the center of the city with everything in walking distance. I want to thank Heather Johnston for her year of service as the GFOA President and congratulate Marc Gonzales as the 2016-17 GFOA President. I also want to recognize a close colleague, Pauline Marx, who is a CSMFO Past President and is currently on the GFOA Board of Directors. She does an amazing job representing government finance officers in California. I hope to see you in Denver in 2017.

1. Preservation of the tax exemption on municipal bond interest.

2. Regulatory action needed to classify municipal

Along with all the GFOA educational sessions, there are plenty of networking opportunities at the conference. GFOA has a reception on Sunday night for all governmental and commercial

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FEBRUARY 7 - 10, 2017

SACRAMENTO

(Headquarters for CSMFO) HYATT REGENCY/SACRAMENTO CONVENTION CENTER SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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INSIDE LOOK

Diary of a Host Committee Chair Drew Corbett, CSMFO President-Elect As President-Elect and Host Committee Chair Drew Corbett works on preparations for the 2017 Annual Conference in Sacramento, he thought it would be fun to give the membership a glimpse into the process of putting the conference together.

Each month, Drew will provide a running commentary on some of the work that goes into conference preparations.

May 18, 2016: Held our first official Host Committee conference call today. As you’ve seen from previous entries, the Host Committee had already begun doing a lot of work prior to us having our first official meeting. The results of that work were evident in what we were able to accomplish in our first meeting. The first thing we did was get final committee sign-off on the theme and the logo, which I promptly tweeted out to the handful of people who have followed me so far (@CSMFOPresElect).

The 2017 conference theme, Venture to the Capital, was developed using the following highly-statistical, researchbased approach: Drew: “Okay, what do you think the theme should be for 2017?”

Melissa: “How about Venture to the Capital.”

Drew: “I love it! Let’s go with it.”

In all seriousness, we bounced around a number of ideas between that conversation I had with Melissa, which I believe occurred while we were still in Anaheim, and when we made the final decision. Ultimately, we kept coming back to Venture to the Capital. It has so many elements that we really liked, including its simplicity and the fact that it featured our location, Sacramento. I also really liked how it captured the essence of what we’ll be doing next February, which is venturing to Sacramento for our annual conference to learn, network and have a good time. And while municipal finance professionals and venture capitalists may not have a lot in

DREW CORBETT common professionally, we’re going to manage to weave in elements of venture capitalism into our conference and make it relevant to our line of work.

We are also pretty close to finalizing both the Wednesday keynote speaker and the Thursday general session speaker. Much thanks goes out to the entire Host Committee for reviewing videos of the “short list”, and an even bigger thanks goes to David Cain, Pamela Arends-King and Joan Michaels Aguilar for vetting through a number of speakers to get down to the short list. Meanwhile, Viki Copeland of the Program Committee is busy nailing down the Thursday general session.

Once both of these sessions are confirmed, I will get them announced to the membership.

We spent the rest of the meeting discussing the remaining elements of the conference that need to be planned, focusing on the Thursday night event and the President’s Dinner. I think we have the general concept of each of those events laid out at this point and will start to put together the details over the next several months. Overall, we had a really productive meeting and got a lot accomplished. I’m already looking forward to our June meeting.

May 19-24, 2016: Attended the GFOA conference in Toronto, and while I didn’t do a whole lot of planning for Sacramento, I did stop by

the exhibit hall to visit with the Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau to inquire about potential locations for the CSMFO reception at the 2017 GFOA conference. I must say, however, it is going to be awfully difficult to top the event President John Adams hosted at the CN Tower in Toronto. What a great venue! It was great to see so many CSMFO members at the conference and at the reception. We were well represented!

May 26, 2016: In preparation for the June Host Committee meeting, I met with Janet and Teri to work on the agenda. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth repeating. I’d be lost trying to plan this conference without the professionals at SMA and M&AMS. While I build the agenda around planning some of the higher profile aspects of the conference like the Thursday night event and the keynote speakers, Janet, Teri and Melissa round things out by making sure I cover the important details that are essential to a successful conference.

At the early stages of planning, this includes reviewing attendee and vendor feedback to find out what went well and what can be improved from the last conference. This is important information for the Host Committee to consider as we begin nailing down the details of the conference. If there are relatively easy adjustments we can make to enhance the conference experience for our attendees, we do our best to make it happen.

June 15, 2016: Held our second Host Committee meeting, with the majority of our members joining us at SMA’s Sacramento office in person.

With committee members clustered in the Sacramento area, the Bay Area and Orange County, it’s hard to get everyone together in person, especially with everyone’s busy schedules around budget adoption time. With an opportunity to visit a potential location for the President’s Dinner to do a tasting, however, we were able to get

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the majority of our committee members to Sacramento for the meeting. This includes Jesse Takahashi and Pamela Arends-King, both past presidents that live in the Bay Area, who made the 200+ mile round trip to be there in person.

We made great use of the time, with Joan Michaels Aguilar getting the Thursday night event sub-committee together an hour early to continue discussing preparations for that event. We had a great discussion on that subject and are continuing to make progress on getting some of our ideas hashed out. It’s definitely been a challenge taking all of the great ideas we have come up with so far and balancing having a fun and creative event with some of the logistical considerations like feeding a large number of people in a timely and efficient manner and being able to make the best use of our available space.

We’re getting there and are planning on getting together in person again in July to focus on further defining that event so that we can then start finalizing details.

I know we are going to put together a great event for the conference!

We also spent time on other aspects of the conference such as the event schedule, attendee survey results, the Friday general session, technology, and additional conference activities.

Overall, it was a tremendously productive meeting; I am very pleased with our progress so far and am grateful to the committee members for all of the time they have given so far to the planning process. After the meeting concluded, most of us headed to Ella, a restaurant in downtown Sacramento that is being considered for the President’s Dinner. It was great to get a chance to check out the venue and get a sampling of the menu, and it was also nice to unwind a bit and chat with the other committee members on matters other than the 2017 conference for at least a little while. Waiting out the traffic was a nice bonus too, although it certainly made for a long day.

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CAREERS JOB OPPORTUNITIES Accountant, Placer County Water Agency Salary Range: $55,426 - $70,741/year Application Deadline: August 5, 2016

Senior Payroll/Fiscal Specialist, Rohnert Park Salary Range: $56,262 - $68,400 annually Application Deadline: August 5, 2016

Assistant County Administrative Officer to Budget and Finance, CRAgency, Inc. Salary Range: $97,000 - $102,000/year Application Deadline: August 26, 2016

Investment Officer, City of San Diego/City Treasurer Salary Range: DOQ Application Deadline: August 11, 2016

Assistant Director of Finance, CRAgency, Inc. Salary Range: $140,454 - $165,240/year Application Deadline: August 22, 2016

Finance Analyst, Hawthorne Salary Range: $59,904 - $88,680/month Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

Accountant, City of Vallejo Salary Range: $59,254 - $72,024/year Application Deadline: July 28, 2016

Director of Administrative Services, Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District Salary Range: 85,750 - 106,500 Application Deadline: August 12,2016

Finance Manager, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Salary Range: $103,898 - $145,458/year Application Deadline: August 19, 2016

City Controller, Bob Murray & Associates Salary Range: $8,149-$11,545/month Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

Finance Director, Prothman Salary Range: $134,352 - $171,444/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

Principal Contract & Compliance Administrator, Southern California Regional Rail Authority Salary Range: $76,518 - $119,574/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

Office of Finance Financial Manager, City of Los Angeles Salary Range:$87,361 to $127,702/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Vice President, Business Services/ Chief Financial Officer, Sacramento Regional Transit District Salary Range: $139,356 - $186,744/year Application Deadline: August 11, 2016 Principal Accountability and Compliance Auditor, Sacramento Regional Transit District Salary Range: $104,640 - $146,472/year Application Deadline: August 4, 2016 Accountant, Santa Rosa Salary Range: $6,233 - $7,584/month Application Deadline: August 5, 2016 Purchasing Agent/Sr. Accountant (Limited Term), Santa Margarita Water District Salary Range: $6,359 - $8,776/month Application Deadline: July 27, 2016

Accountant I, Southern California Regional Rail Authority Salary Range: $58,322.00 - $91,119.00 Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Finance Controller, City of Ukiah Salary Range: $6,444 - $7,832 per month Application Deadline: July 29, 2016 Principal Accountant, City of Maywood Salary Range: $6,413 - $7,823/month Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Business Services Coach (Front-line Manager), Union Sanitary District Salary Range: $120,660 - $158,371/year Application Deadline: August 17, 2016 Finance Manager, Alderwood Water & Wastewater District Salary Range: $81,972 - $109,860/year Application Deadline: August 1, 2016

Finance Director, Colton Salary Range: $120,000 - $169,000/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Director of Finance, Ralph Andersen & Associates Salary Range: $144,450 - $194,841/year Application Deadline: August 1, 2016 Business Administrator, County of Calaveras Salary Range: $70,200 - $85,363/year Application Deadline: July 29, 2016 Budget/Finance Manager, City of Hesperia Salary Range: $7606 - $9271/month Application Deadline: July 29, 2016 Chief Financial Officer, Ralph Andersen & Associates Salary Range: $166,802 - $229,939/year Application Deadline: August 12, 2016 Senior Accountant, Simi Valley Salary Range: $6,655 - $8,545/month Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Finance Director, Bell Salary Range: $130,000 - $145,600/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Administrative Services Manager, Ralph Andersen & Associates Salary Range: $172,203 - $210,471/year Application Deadline: August 5, 2016 Budget Analyst II/Senior, Stockton Salary Range: $6,012 - $9,392/month Deadline: July 29, 2016 Finance Director, Prothman Company Salary Range: $72,631 - $94,420/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled Chief Financial Officer, City of Placentia Salary Range: $137,166 - $150,852/year Application Deadline: August 11, 2016 Director of Administrative Services, Regional Government Services Authority Salary Range: $97,469 - $136,099/year Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

45 CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

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WHAT DO CALIFORNIA’S

LEADING CITIES, COUNTIES & SPECIAL DISTRICTS HAVE IN COMMON?

Type Atypical ASSURANCE | TAX | ADVISORY OUTSOURCING | STAFFING

SOLUTIONS FOR STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Performance Reviews & Operations Improvement Risk Management Solutions IT Planning & Implementation Cybersecurity Staffing Uniform Guidance Implemention Solutions GASB 68 Support Services

47 CSMFO MAGAZINE JULY 2016

www.csmfo.org 877.282.9183

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