Organizational Meeting 1/21/10

In July 2009, Brunswick City Council approved the appointment of 13 individuals to serve on the new Citizen's Financial Audit Review Committee. I was named as one of the members. We had our first meeting on January 21, 2010. At this meeting, we met fellow committee members, two members of the audit firm addressed the group, we had general discussion and Q&A. We also set our next four meetings which will be held on February 18, May 19, August 18, and November 18.

Finance Director Bill White opened the meeting. Up first was Assistant Finance Director Todd Fisher (ext. 3203) who briefly introduced himself as well as two members of the city's audit firm. Key points highlighted:

• Audit just started Tue. 1/19/10 and report is expected mid-May
• Unqualified opinion back to early 80s
• Received awards for financial reporting excellence since 1982
• FARC formation was a previous audit recommendation

The city council also has a goal to create a citizens advisory group where advisable (e.g., IDEA, Green Advisory Board, Citizens Police Group, etc.). Also, the bad loss at the November 2007 levy and the poos communication issues led to formation of the Adhoc Financial Advisory Committee and FARC.

FARC members who also served on the Adhoc Committee inculde Al, Kathy, Bill, and Jim.

The auditors discussed their purpose and process and welcomed any and all questions. Business cards with contact information were provided.

(1) Safety levy effective 1/1/10 to fund police/fire needs including the hiring goal if 6 police/6 fire FTE. 100% of income should go for police/fire needs as promised during the campaign.

(2) Early retirement w/savings for road improvements to be advance funded with a 2yr buyout. There are 11 eligible personnel and most/all are expected to take the buyout and retire.

Learned that we get about $1.5mill from gas tax and license plate fees (city portion) with about $400k of it going directly into road repairs. The rest goes for staff salaries, equipment, supplies, fuel, etc

Percentage of taxes distribution:
1.0% is discretionary - general purpose dollars from way back.
0.35% for safety + .5 from 2009 levy

Recommends attending city council meetings such as the one this coming Monday 1/25/10. Meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Mondays each month.

Fire and Police each have their own special fund, which makes it easier to create reports and reconcile but creates other administrative burdens.

Budget is on the city web site. Bill recommends at least looking at the org chart for funds and transmittal letter for budget highlights.

We ended the meeting by setting dates for future meetings. The next one should be pretty
Interesting which will cover an overview of the 2010 budget and a state of the city presentation.

Tour of various departments will also be arranged with the opportunity to hear from department heads. The Adhoc committee found great value in these and spend 2 nights on their tour.

Our only deadline or commitment is to hold quarterly meetings at minimum.

Roster of members and contact info will be distributed by Bill in the near future.