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LONG -TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING The City of Ramsey prepares a five year capital improvement plan in an attempt to anticipate major capital expenditures in advance of the year in which they are budgeted. The City has a policy to maintain unrestricted General Fund balance in an amount equal to 50% of the following years adopted operating budget. This policy is designed to establish a fund balance at a level which is sufficient to avoid issuing debt to meet current operating needs. RELEVANT FINANCIAL POLICIES The City has a comprehensive set of financial policies that provide the basic framework for the overall fiscal management of the City. The City had no unusual occurrences affecting these policies. Pursuant to guidelines established by GASB Statement No. 54, the City has implemented new fund balance classifications for governmental funds disclosing constraints for which those funds may be spent. The newly implemented fund balance classifications include: nonspendable, restricted, committed, assigned, and unassigned. MAJOR INITIATIVES Since 1990, the City has been attempting to provide improved services to a dramatically increasing number of households in a time of fiscal constraints at the state level. From the 1990 census to the 2010 projection, Ramsey's population has increased by 95 %. At the same time, aids from the state of Minnesota have decreased. In 2011, The City's Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) continued its work on Ramsey's downtown development The COR. Construction on the Ramsey Station for the Minnesota Northstar commuter rail is scheduled to begin in Spring 2012. The Ramsey Station is a key component for the success of projects within The COR, thus it has been the city's top priority for transportation improvements. CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (CAEFR) to the City for its CAFR for the year ended December 31, 2010. This was the seventeenth consecutive year the City has received this prestigious award. Also, the City had previously received the award from 1981 through 1988, after which the City did not participate in the program for several years. The CAEFR is valid for a period of one year only. We believe our current CAFR continues to meet the CAEFR Program's requirements and we are submitting it to the GFOA to determine its eligibility for another certificate. 17