Page 370 - Ord 866 Adopting a revised Fiscal Year 17-18 and new proposed Fiscal Year 18-19 budget

Section 11 Municipal Policies
Municipal Fiscal & Budgetary Policies

Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement program. The
auditors’ report on Town’ s financial statements will be completed within a timely period of
the Town’ s fiscal year-end. The auditor will jointly review the management letter with the
Town Council, if necessary. In conjunction with this review, the Finance Director shall
respond in writing to the Town Council regarding the auditor’ s Management Letter,
addressing the issued contained therein. The Town will not require auditor rotation, but will
circulate request for proposal for audit services on a periodic basis as deemed
appropriate.

C. External Financial Reporting - Town will prepare and publish a comprehensive annual
financial report ( CAFR). The CAFR will be prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles and will be presented annually to the Government
Finance Officers Association ( GFOA) for evaluation and awarding of the Certificate of
Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

D. Responsibility of Auditor to Town Council – The auditor is retained by and it accountable
directly to the Town Council and will have access to direct communication with the Town
Council if the Town Staff is unresponsive to auditor recommendations or if the auditor
considers such communication necessary to fulfill its legal and professional responsibilities.

E. Internal Financial Reporting - The Finance Department will prepare internal financial reports
sufficient for management to plan, monitor, and control Town’ s financial affairs.

XIV. CAPITAL BUDGET AND PROGRAM

A. Preparation - The Town’ s capital budget will include all capital projects funds and all
capital resources. While the capital budget will be prepared annually on a project basis, it
will be based on an on-going, multi-year capital improvement plan (CIP) that shows all
funded and unfunded projects as identified by staff for all Town facilities and infrastructure.
The multi-year CIP will be reviewed annually, updated by staff and presented to the
Council for its review and approval. The annual capital budget will be prepared by the
Finance Department with the involvement of responsible departments based on the multi-
year CIP.

B. Control - All capital project expenditures must be appropriated in the capital budget. The
Finance Director must certify the availability of resources before any capital project
contract is presented to the Town Council for approval.

C. Program Planning - The capital budget will be taken from the capital improvements
project plan for future years. The planning time frame for the capital improvements project
plan should normally be five years, with a minimum of at least three years. The
replacement and maintenance for capital items should also be projected for the next five
years. Future maintenance and operational costs will be considered so that these costs
can be included as appropriate in the annual budget.

356