Page 194 - City of Bedford FY20 Approved Budget

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

TOTAL EXPENDITURES
$18,203,092

ACTUAL BUDGET BASE REQUESTS BUDGET
DIVISION/FUND
17/18 18/19 19/20 19/20 19/20
Finance 543,067 614,294 634,616 62,216 696,832

General Fund Non-Departmental 1,524,916 1,358,760 1,496,110 - 1,496,110
Municipal Court 671,558 697,179 526,466 18,442 544,908
Teen Court 135,750 186,079 141,101 - 141,101
Accounting 169,061 246,453 243,966 821 244,787

Customer Service 637,867 692,131 693,985 12,237 706,222
Water Sewer Non-Departmental 3,177,948 6,301,346 6,780,680 - 6,780,680
Court Security Fund 32,000 32,000 25,000 - 25,000

Court Technology Fund 38,452 55,830 45,710 - 45,710
Debt Service 7,389,352 7,857,570 7,521,742 - 7,521,742
TOTAL $14,319,971 $18,041,642 $18,109,376 $ 93,716 $18,203,092

Future Budget Considerations

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) will continue to issue pronouncements requiring governmental entities to
modify their accounting practices and reporting. Therefore, staff will be required to adhere to these new accounting practices
through increased auditing, procedures, and consulting services, which could impact budgetary constraints. In addition the
portfolio of the City has doubled, which requires additional time spent by staff for investing, monitoring the funds, required
paperwork, and laddering the investments while maintaining a positive cash flow for the City. There is a need for additional staffing
in Finance/Accounting to keep up with the additional workload. Currently, the department operates on minimal staffing.

In 2015, the City was approved by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to receive financial assistance from the State Water
Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) in the amount of $90 million for capital projects that promote water conservation. This
primarily consists of replacing an aging infrastructure in the water distribution system. So far, the City has issued $50 million of
SWIFT funds with the anticipation of issuing the remaining $40 million over a six-year period. One of the capital projects funded from
SWIFT was the automated meter reading (AMR) system that was completed in April 2019. This new $14 million utility billing system
requires equipment, hardware and software, thus increasing the future maintenance costs as a result of the AMR implementation.
There were over 15,000 water accounts affected by the implementation of the (AMR) system.

In an effort to address efficiencies, as well as achieve cost savings within the department, Administrative Services will consider a
number of functions that can be enhanced by switching on-line bill pay providers, as well as going out for request for proposals (RFP)
for merchant services, and making a change in how the City calculates overtime pay in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA). All three measures being considered will have an impact on future budgetary constraints.

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