Agenda - Council - 06/23/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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OTHER OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Impact of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Shortly after the end of the 2019 fiscal year, the onset of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused substantial volatility in economic conditions and tremendous disruption in the way governments, businesses, and individuals function Minnesota cities may experience the impact of this pandemic in a myriad of financial areas, such as: declines in investment rates of return, cash flow issues, increased utility billing and property tax delinquencies, significant increases in the number and frequency of employees working remotely, challenges in processing general and payroll disbursements, disruption of prescribed internal control procedures, delays in internal and external financial reporting, and new compliance requirements attached to potential federal relief subsidies. As your city adapts to the new normal of municipal operations in a post-COVID-19 world, the assessment of and responses to new risks that may accompany operational changes will be critical to the safeguarding of city resources and sound financial stewardship. We encourage management and governance to include a robust financial risk assessment process when planning responses to these challenges, and to reassess and adapt internal controls over financial transactions and reporting to align with significant changes made to daily operations, even those intended to be temporary. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies. The significant accounting policies used by the City are described in Note 1 of the notes to the basic financial statements. No new accounting policies were adopted and the application of existing policies was not changed during the year ended December 31, 2019; however, the City implemented the following governmental accounting standards during the fiscal year: • GASB Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities, which established new criteria for identifying and reporting fiduciary activities. • GASB Statement No. 88, Certain Disclosures Related to Debt, Including Direct Borrowings and Direct Placements, which improved and clarified the information to be disclosed in notes to government financial statements related to debt, including direct borrowings and direct placements. We noted no transactions entered into by the City during the year for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus. All significant transactions have been recognized in the financial statements in the proper period. -2-