2006 Performance Based Budget - Laserfiche WebLink

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after setting aside funds for the 2006 Capital Budget) but also in its Special Revenue and Enterprise Funds that include operational activities. It is the City's goal to maintain cash reserves of at least 15% of operating expenditures (after funding capital needs for the current year) for each of these operating funds. Over the past eight years, the City has been able to achieve a $ 13.1 million General Fund reserve, which stood at $4.2 million (11 % of the operating budget) at the start of 1997. Due to the current and upcoming Indiana State legislation affecting property tax allocations, these reserves will be able to help the City manage its cash flow. The Administration and Finance Department, along with all other department fiscal staff, continues to strive for overall improvement in providing meaningful and timely financial information to City Management, Common Council and the Public. Some significant enhancements included revenue and expenditure forecasting on a multi-year basis and the identification of the ongoing projected operational impact resulting from the City's future anticipated capital expenditures. The forecasting process has also enhanced the budgeting process by enabling City Management anal the Common Council to compare anticipated actual results with the projected financial needs for the coming year. In January of 2006 the City received, for the fifteenth year in a raw, the "Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting" issued by the Governmental Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report {CAFR) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. The City will submit its 2005 CAFR during 2006 for consideration of this prestigious award. Building South Bend in 2006 and beyond Mayor Stephen Luecke's theme for the past several years has been "We're Building South Bend." That theme has had a major influence on the development of the 2006 budget. There were five areas of concentration that became or remained budget priorities for 2006. We're Buildi~zg Neighborhoods -Mayor Luecke and the City's elected officials continued their strong commitment to neighborhoods. The City will invest $4.8 million to fund or leverage state and federal funding for housing assistance, development and home ownership programs, neighborhood public works and parks, neighborhood development for social services and organizations, and public safety initiatives. Committing these resources will help us maintain, improve and support strong neighborhood development. We're Buildi~rg a Safe City -Public safety is the foundation of all the City's efforts to build South Bend. Through the targeted and creative use of available resources, the City is working to provide quality police, fire and ambulance services for the community. The crime rate has increased in several significant categories over the past year. South Bend has 2.4 police officers and 2.3 firefighters per thousand population. These ratios are among the highest in the state and well above the national average. We believe that these extra officers are important far officer safety and community safety. We will also complete the long awaited and much needed design far renovation and expansion of Police Department offices. The City's Fire Department is rated one of the highest in the State. We have recently x