In absence of Benicia finance director, changes considered; just 1 item on current list

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Benicia Finance Committee will consider revising its work plan Friday, adding new tasks and deciding which should take top priority.

However, members won’t have as much staff guidance as the panel has had in the past, Financial Consultant Brenda Olwin wrote in a May 16 report.

That’s because the city has lost its finance director, Karan Reid, who left in April to become financial director for the city of Concord.

Meanwhile, others in the city Finance Department are focusing on the 2013-15 city budget that is expected to be adopted in June.

“Due to recent staffing changes in the Finance Department, the lack of current resources is presently limiting the department’s involvement in potential current and future work plan items of the committee,” Olwin wrote.

However, the work plan is an important document. Advisory panels develop work plans as lists of tasks they hope to accomplish in a given year and assign those tasks specific priority status.

Those work plans then are approved by City Council.

“Currently, the Long Range Financial Plan is the one item on the committee’s Council-approved work program,” Olwin wrote.

However, during the April meeting, the Finance Committee agreed to review additional one-time items, and Olwin incorporated them into her draft of a work plan proposal for the panel.

The long-range financial forecast would be a 10- to 50-year financial forecast.

Some of the jobs Olwin listed, which were suggested last month by the committee itself, were proposing budget-balancing options, particularly those for addressing the city’s structural deficit; examining the Marina and Transit enterprise fund deficits; and examining the city’s solar array project, for which the committee would look at accounting of construction debt financing.

Also on the list were reporting on unfunded liabilities; having a Reserve Policy report that looks at how General Fund reserves are calculated; obtaining training in the city’s annual audit; examining Enterprise Fund reporting; comparing actual operating results to the recent water rate study; reviewing a report on placemaking, a holistic approach to designing and managing public spaces, in conjunction with Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani; and improving financial reports, which is contingent on accounting and payroll system upgrades — another committee goal to simplify report generation.

Also before the committee will be an update on the development of the 2013-15 city budget and a report on city accounting and payroll system upgrades. The panel will also review financial reports and the warrant register for April.

The Finance Committee will meet at 8 a.m. Friday in the Commission Room of City Hall, 250 East L St.

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