20 NOV 05CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING - CITY HALL - #1 MUNICIPAL DRIVE
The City Council of the City of Jacksonville, Arkansas met in regular session on November 5, 2020 at the regular meeting place of the City Council. Council Member Ray delivered the
invocation and Council Member Collins led a standing audience in the “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag.
ROLL CALL: City Council Members: Dietz, Sansing, Ray, Traylor, Twitty, Smith, and Collins answered ROLL CALL. Vice Mayor Bolden also answered ROLL CALL declaring a quorum. PRESENT
SEVEN (7) ABSENT (1) ONE SEAT VACANT.
Others present for the meeting via Zoom were: City Attorney Stephanie Friedman, Human Resource Director Charlette Nelson. Present in the audience were: Finance Director Cheryl Erkel,
Police Chief Brett Hibbs, and Fire Chief Alan Laughy.
PRESENTATION OF MINUTES:
Vice Mayor Bolden presented the minutes of the regular City Council meeting of October 15, 2020 for approval and/or correction at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
APPROVAL AND/OR CORRECTION OF MINUTES:
Council Member Traylor moved, seconded by Council Member Twitty that the minutes of the regular scheduled City Council meeting of 1 October 2020 be APPROVED. MOTION CARRIED.
CONSENT AGENDA: REGULAR MONTHLY REPORT/ANIMAL CONTROL
Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Sansing to approve the regular monthly report for October 2020.
ADOPTION FEES/FINES $ 310.00
CONTRIBUTIONS 0.00
TOTALS $ 310.00
REGULAR MONTHLY/ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Sansing to approve the regular monthly report for October 2020.
PERMITS/LICENSE ISSUED INSPECTIONS PERFORMED
Building Permits 12 Building Inspections 32
Business Licenses Electrical 34 Plumbing 39
HVACR 19
ROLL CALL: Council Members: Dietz, Sansing, Ray, Traylor, Twitty, Smith, and Collins voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED.
WATER DEPARTMENT:
WASTEWATER DEPARTMENTS:
FIRE DEPARTMENT:
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
STREET DEPARTMENT:
SANITATION DEPARTMENT:
PARKS & RECREATION:
PLANNING COMMISSION:
COMMITTEE(S): Used Car Lot Committee (Council Member Mashburn)
No committee report to present.
GENERAL: 2019 Audit presented by Gerald Clark of McAllister & Associates
Mr. Clark related it is his privilege to present the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (“CAFR”) for the City of Jacksonville for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Calendar year 2019 marks the 23rd consecutive year that the City has prepared a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The annual report was prepared by the City’s Finance Department.
It contains financial statements audited by the McAlister & Associates, P.A., CPAs, and also pertinent financial, economic, demographic, and statistical information related to the City
over a ten-year period.
The purpose of the report is to provide the City’s elected officials, citizens, bondholders and other interested parties with detailed information concerning the City’s operations and
financial position.
Each year since 1997 and including the 2018 report, the City’s CAFR has received the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association
of the United States and Canada (GFOA). The Certificate of Achievement is a prestigious national award recognizing conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and
local government financial reports.
The 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report has also been submitted to GFOA for award consideration.
The City is responsible for the accuracy, completeness and fairness of the data presented in the CAFR. The report is prepared by the City’s Finance Department in accordance with standards
prescribed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), the Government Financial Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) and other rule-making bodies.
The City is also responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements. Our responsibility
as auditors is to conduct the audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards; to express an opinion on the City’s financial statements;
and to gather sufficient evidence to provide a basis for our audit opinions.
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
Based upon our audit, we have rendered a “clean”, or unmodified opinion on the City’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019. An unmodified opinion means that, in
our opinion, the financial statements have
been prepared using accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), do not contain material misstatements, and are fairly presented. Our Independent
Auditor’s Report is presented on page 11 of the CAFR. In conjunction with the CAFR, we have issued a Management Letter, included with the annual report, which is a customary byproduct
of the audit process and is intended to provide management with suggestions and guidance in the ongoing effort to improve internal controls. The management letter contains three comments
related to the 2019 audit.
The following are financial highlights of the 2019 report:
City of Jacksonville
Comparative Statement of Revenues and Expenditures-Governmental Funds
Percent
Percent of Change
2017 2018 2019 Total Prior Year
Revenues
Property taxes 826,251 856,539 852,536 3.5 % (0.5) %
Sales taxes 14,013,579 3,935,682 14,623,842 60.1 4.9
Licenses and permits 434,535 243,423 305,522 1.3 25.5 Intergovernmental 4,738,360 4,687,887
5,482,124 22.5 16.9
Charges for services 942,439 956,629 1,063,640 4.4 11.2
Fines and fees 542,862 493,869 429,075 1.8 (13.1)
Utility franchise taxes 1,096,000 1,078,449 1,113,293 4.6 3.2
Investment income 110,441 78,189 110,642 0.5 41.5
Miscellaneous 344,085 667,257 338,804 1.4 (49.2)
Total revenues 23,048,552 22,997,923 24,319,477 100.00 % 5.7 %
Expenditures
General government 2,904,825 2,797,378 3,025,070 13.5 % 8.1 %
Public works 2,390,959 2,295,609 3,029,940 13.6 32.0
Parks and recreation 2,473,090 2,620,703 2,682,522 12.0 2.4
Police 6,970,618 6,003,262 5,919,883 26.5 (1.4)
Fire 4,764,915 5,261,163 5,200,548 23.3 (1.2)
Emergency communications 714,326 761,607 812,913 3.6 6.7
Animal control 290,121 299,083 307,313 1.4 2.8
Housing and
neighborhood programs 213,718 244,248 365,580 1.6 49.7
Debt service 1,308,954 992,168 995,130 4.5 0.3
Total expenditures 22,031,526 21,275,222 22,338,900 100.00 % 5.0 %
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
The City saw increases in most revenue sources in 2019 compared to the prior year. Sales tax revenues which account for 60% of all City revenues were 14.6 Million in 2019, which was
an increase of just under 5% from 2018. Part of this growth in Sales Tax revenue we believe is attributable to Act 822 of 2019 passed by the Arkansas General Assembly which allowed
sales tax to be charged on purchases from out of state vendors even if the vendor doesn’t have a physical presence in Arkansas. The Act became effective July 1, 2019, so 2020 will be
the first full year of tax collection under the Act. The City’s second largest revenue source, intergovernmental revenues, which includes State tax turnbacks and grant revenues were
5.4 Million, an increase of just under 17%. Utility franchise taxes came in at 1.1 Million an increase of 3.2% over 2018. Total 2019 revenues were 24.3 Million compared to 23 Million
in 2018, which was an overall increase of 5.7%.
Most major categories of expenditures, with the exception of the Police and Fire Departments, also saw increases in 2019. Public works expenditures were just over $3M in 2019, largely
attributable to increases in Street Fund expenditures on sidewalks and asphalt overlay. The City received reimbursement for a large part of the sidewalk expenditures from Federal grant
revenues. The City’s Police and Fire Departments, which together account for 50% of City expenditures, reduced spending in 2019 by just over 1% each. Overall, total expenditures were
22.3 Million, an increase of 5% over 2018 expenditures.
The City’s General Fund finished 2019 with a fund balance of $3,149,492 which was an increase of $1,146,631 from the December 31, 2018 fund balance. For consecutive years now the fund
balance of the General Fund has increased in excess of 1 million per year. General Fund revenues of $20,347,000 were $607,000 over budgeted revenues for the year, while General Fund
expenditures of $17,899,000 were $1,118,000 under budgeted expenditures for 2019.
Transfers out of the General Fund in the amounts of $400,000 and $175,000 were made to support the operations of the Emergency Medical Services Fund and Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation
Shooting Sports Complex Fund respectively in 2019. Additionally, $726,536 was transferred out to pay debt service on the 2015 Capital Improvements Bond Issue. He noted that Bond Issue
has been approved for a refinance.
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
2019 General Fund Operations
Final Variance
Budgeted Actual with Final
Amounts Amounts Budget
Revenues 19,739,873 20,346,606 606,733
Expenditures 19,016,337 17,898,440 1,117,897
Expenditures in excess of revenues 723,536 2,448,166 1,724,630
Other financing sources (uses)
Transfers-in: (From Other Funds) 3,000 - (3,000)
Transfers-out (726,536) (1,301,536) (575,000)
Total other financing sources (uses) (723,536) (1,301,536) (578,000)
Net change in fund balances - 1,146,630 1,146,630
Fund balances, January 1 2,002,862
Fund balances, December 31 3,149,492
As a measure of the General Fund’s liquidity, it is useful to compare total General Fund fund balance to total General Fund expenditures. The fund balance of $3,149,492 at December 31,
2019 represents approximately 17.6% of 2019 actual General Fund expenditures and approximately 15.5% of 2020 General Fund budgeted expenditures.
As a general policy, the City’s minimum target at the end of a fiscal year for the fund balance of the General Fund is 60 days (16%) expenditures based on the most recent completed year.
At the end of 2019, the balance on hand was approximately 56 days of 2020 budgeted General Fund expenditures. This was up from 36 days of reserves at the end of 2018.
This minimum level of fund balance is required to ensure funds availability for unforeseen emergencies that might impact the City’s ability to pay for basic operations and also to guarantee
the payment of debt obligations.
After a steady decline in the fund balance of the City’s General Fund from 2012 through 2017, the fund balance has rebounded the past three years to close 2019 very near the City’s stated
minimum target of 60 days or 16% of the next year’s budgeted expenditures.
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
General Fund Ending Fund Balance as a Percent of Next Year’s
General Fund Budgeted Expenditures
General Fund
Fund Balance
% of
Budgeted end of Budgeted
Year Expenditures Previous Year Expenditures
2010 18,663,794 3,571,855 19.1%
2011 17,853,061 3,456,369 19.4%
2012 19,190,962 5,404,555 28.2%
2013 20,677,929 4,639,312 22.4%
2014 22,011,653 3,219,851 14.6%
2015 20,657,218 2,435,404 11.8%
2016 21,059,443 1,876,818 8.9%
2017 20,273,419 841,184 4.2%
2018 19,939,044 1,001,212 5.0%
2019 19,742,873 2,002,862 10.1%
2020 20,371,063 3,149,492 15.5%
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I encourage you to read the Management’s Discussion and Analysis included in the financial section and beginning on page 15, and also the notes to financial statements
which begin on page 47. The MD&A analyzes the City’s financial performance for the year, provides comparisons of the current year results to the prior year, and discusses both the positive
and negative aspects of the comparison. The notes to the financial statements provide required detailed disclosures and descriptions of the financial statements. The preparation of
this report would not have been possible without the dedication and committed services of key staff in the City’s Finance Department under the leadership of Finance Director Cheryl
Erkel. I would like to express our appreciation to all City staff who assisted us in the audit and whose efforts resulted in a timely and successful completion of this year’s report.
Finally, we want to express our appreciation once again to the City and the Council for allowing us the opportunity to serve as the City’s auditors. We very much value our business
relationship with the City of Jacksonville.
It was the consensus of the City Council to accept the audit as reported.
In response to a question from Council Member Smith, Finance Director Cheryl Erkel stated that she is currently working on the presentation of the preliminary budget and is waiting to
hear from one last Department regarding scheduling a budget meeting. She stated that she was hoping to conclude that and have a preliminary budget emailed along with the budget meeting
schedule tomorrow morning.
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
6:00 P.M. – 6:16 P.M.
APPOINTMENTS:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
ADJOURNMENT: Without objection, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:16 p.m. MOTION CARRIED.
Respectfully,
________________________ _________________________
Susan L. Davitt MAYOR BOB JOHNSON
City Clerk-Treasurer