Agenda - Council - 12/08/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Management reports no major layoffs or closures among larger area employers as a result of the pandemic. However, social distancing and the effects of the pandemic and recent recession caused elevated rates of unemployment in 2020. Anoka County's unemployment rate peaked at 9.8% in May before falling to 5.7% in September. Strong management We view the city's management as strong, with good financial policies and practices under our FMA methodology, indicating financial practices exist in most areas, but that governance officials might not formalize or monitor all of them on a regular basis. Highlights of Ramsey's financial policies and practices include: • Reference to four years of historical data, outside data sources, and line -item estimates during budget development; • Monthly budget -to -actual reports to the council, with a budget that can be amended as necessary throughout the year; • A five-year financial forecast, updated annually; • A 10-year capital improvement plan, updated annually; • A formal investment management policy, along with management reporting investment holdings to the council monthly; • A formal debt management policy that we do not consider comprehensive; and • A formal general fund reserve policy to maintain a minimum of 50% of expenditures, which the city has historically followed. Adequate budgetary performance Ramsey's budgetary performance is adequate in our opinion. The city had operating surpluses of 3.0% of expenditures in the general fund and of 13.0% across all governmental funds in fiscal 2019. General fund operating results of the city have been stable over the past three years, with a result of 4.7% in 2018 and a result of 3.6 % in 2017. Although budgetary performance has generated net positive results in the past three fiscal years, we believe the pressures resulting from the pandemic and recent recession could pose budgetary challenges in the near term. The budgetary performance score of adequate reflects our view of the budgetary uncertainty Ramsey has faced throughout the pandemic. The fiscal 2020 budget shows a breakeven result, but management expects the city will report a surplus of approximately$600,000 by fiscal year-end due to reimbursable pandemic -related expenses. Ramsey received a total of $2.5 million of funding distributed under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic