Page 397 - City of Westlake FY20 Budget

Section 11 Municipal Policies
Municipal Fiscal & Budgetary Policies

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.

D. Financing Programs - Where applicable and with Council approval, impact fees, pro-rata charges,
assessments, or other fees should be used to fund capital projects which have a primary benefit to
specific, identifiable property owners. Recognizing that long-term debt is usually a more expensive
financing method, alternative financing sources will be explored before debt is issued. When debt
is issued, it will be used to acquire major assets with expected lives which equal or exceed the
average life of the debt issue.

E. Reporting - Periodic financial reports will be prepared to enable the department directors to
manage their capital budgets. Summary capital project status reports will be presented to the
Town Council quarterly.

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