07-11-1994 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON JUNE 27, 1994 PUBLIC fcoMMENTS (CONTINUED)ii agenda for Council consideration. AUDIT REPORT (#3) PRESENTATION BY AUDITOR - 1993 COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT - KEN MALLOY AND SHERI OELTJENBRUNS Ken Malloy and Sheri Oeitjenbruns were present. Ken Malloy stated they would briefly review the report and answer any questions. He noted that Orono receives Very little State Aid, and discussed the City ’s revenues and tax rates in comparison to other cities. The report illustrates financial trends over the past five years. Mayor Callahan inquired if Orono maintained an adequate cash balance, and Malloy responded that they always had maintained a positive cash balance, whereas other cities did not always do this. He noted that this was only for the General Fund balance and did not take into account funds which have been allocated for specific purposes. Malloy discussed the internal controls and stated due to the small size of the City ’s personnel the extent of separation of incompatible dues was limited. However, because the City had recently hired new accounting personnel, now would be a good time to review the accounting personnel job descriptions in order to make changes. Malloy indicated that the internal controls were to avoid any one employee having control of all phases of a transaction, or access to both physical assets and the related accounting records. Mayor Callahan stated that this comment had been made in previous audits, and he felt the City Administrator should be directed to look into this to determine whether this situation can be rectified. Sheri Oeitjenbruns stated that they recommend that more than one person sign checks for large amounts. She commented that the audit went well and no problems were encountered. Kuehn stated that he was amenable to making any changes the Council felt were necessary. Hurr inquired when they could bring specific information to the Council to resolve the internal controls and Malloy responded that they could have it completed within 30 days. Kelley inquired if the auditors had encountered other cities leasing major equipment rather than purchasing it, given the fact that cities were now required to pay sales tax. Malloy responded that he did not really know; some lease arrangements were used but he would be open to discussing this possibility with the Finance Director and staff. Kelley stated he was concerned about the Police contracts with other cities and whether they were recovering their actual costs for provision of services to these communities. Malloy responded that those costs are not really separated out from the costs of the Orono Police Department but they have considered having this area more thoroughly looked into. Kelley stated he felt a thorough cost analysis needed to be done. (4