Even as Benicia City Council is about to start the process of finding a new treasurer, Finance Committee members said Friday they wouldn’t object to the next treasurer having a vote on committee matters. When the question of allowing elected officials to join other committee members in voting was aired Friday, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell […]
Consultant: City ‘safe,’ diversified in portfolio
Benicia’s investment portfolio “is safe and diversified, and has enough liquidity,” Carlos Oblites told the Finance Committee Friday morning. Oblites, director of PFM Asset Management, the city’s investments consultant, told the panel that his company expects rising rates on the horizon, particularly as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, often nicknamed “the […]
Opinion: Is Benicia’s Finance Committee still relevant?
By Lawrence Grossman, Dennis Lowry and Lee Wines THE PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL BY THE NEW CHAIR of the Finance Committee on April 8 may have unofficially marked the return of the committee to its previous and practically irrelevant status characterized by city staff’s dominance of its activities. The new chair, Michael Clark, is […]
Committee to hear of key step in city’s computer overhaul
Finance panel to get update on long-delayed upgrade; investment review also slated A proposal request for Benicia’s new computer finance software is being prepared, the Finance Committee will hear Friday. And by June, an assessment recommendation should be put before the City Council, according to a pre-implementation schedule prepared by interim Finance Director Brenda Olwin.
Finance to fill in Council on plans
Committee’s yearly review of CAFR, announcement of work plan slated Each year, the Benicia Finance Committee reviews the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, a document that covers more than a simple audit. The committee makes quarterly reviews of Benicia’s investments and approves a work plan that lists special projects it plans to study. At tonight’s […]
City may solicit bids for new finance system computers as early as July, panel told
Committee seeks update, cost-benefit analysis on solar panels Benicia Finance Committee received a progress outline Friday for the city’s finance computer software change, an ongoing project that began in 2010 but that saw a change in direction in January. Rather than try to force the ONESolution software onto department computers, city employees instead announced in […]