City Of Fort Collins, Colorado - Fcgov

only on the fair presentation of the financial statements, but also on the audited government’sinternal controls and compliance with legal requirements, with special emphasis on theadministration of federal awards. The reports are available in the separately issued Single AuditReport of the City of Fort Collins.Management’s Discussion & Analysis Generally accepted accounting principles require thatmanagement provide a narrative introduction, overview, and analysis to accompany the basicfinancial statements in the form of Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”).Management has designed this transmittal letter to coordinate with the MD&A. Users of this reportshould read this letter and the MD&A. The MD&A begins on page 19, immediately followingBONDI’s independent audit report.Profile of the City of Fort CollinsThe City of Fort Collins, incorporated in 1873, is located in north central Colorado, east of thecontinental divide. It is the fifth largest city in Colorado in terms of population. The City’s corporatelimits encompass 51 square miles of land. It has been growing rapidly over the last 20 years andtraditionally possessed one of the strongest local economies in the nation. The City is the countyseat of Larimer County. It is also home to Colorado State University with an enrollment of over25,000 students and many Federal and state agencies. Public entities own about 30% of the landwithin the City’s corporate limits.The City is a home rule city, organized under provisions of the Colorado Constitution. The CityCharter, adopted in 1954, provides for the council-manager form of local government. The votersdirectly elect the mayor to serve a two-year term. Within districts, voters elect six Council memberson a non-partisan basis, to staggered four-year terms. The financial statements, schedules, andstatistical tables contained in this report include all funds and account groups under the control ofCity Council. The Council is responsible for passing ordinances, adopting the two-year budget andannual appropriations ordinance, appointing advisory board and commission members, and hiringthe city manager, city attorney, and municipal judge. The city manager is responsible forimplementing the policies and ordinances of Council, overseeing the day-to-day operations, and forappointing service area directors and other staff members.The City provides a full range of municipal government services to approximately 135,500residents. These services include all general purpose municipal services authorized by its Charter,including general government, public safety, streets and highways, health and welfare, culture andrecreation, transportation, public works, development, and public utilities. The City’s utilitiesinclude electric distribution, water treatment, wastewater treatment, and storm drainage.Management includes component units in the reporting entity to conform to GovernmentalAccounting Standards Board Statement No. 14. The financial statements include all funds, capitalassets and long-term obligations that make up the legal entity of the “primary government”, namelythe City, as well as organizations for which the City is financially accountable. The City’s reportingentity includes the Downtown Development Authority, General Improvement District No. 1, and theFort Collins Capital Leasing Corporation. Management has designed the financial statements toallow financial statement users to distinguish between the primary government and its componentunits.The Poudre Fire Authority provides fire protection services to the region around and including theCity and its residents. The City and Poudre Valley Fire Protection District created the Authority in1982 to provide consolidated fire and emergency services within the territorial limits of both4City of Fort Collins

entities. The Authority was created as an independent governmental authority under Colorado lawand is governed by its own board. The City accounts for the Authority as a joint venture. Thisorganizational arrangement has improved insurance ratings, lowered costs to taxpayers, enhancedability to respond to major fires, and eliminated duplicate support services. In addition to fireprotection, the Authority provides emergency medical services, hazardous materials response,inspection, public education, and investigation services. The Finance Department preparesseparate financial statements for the Poudre Fire Authority.The City’s annual appropriations ordinance, adopted before the end of November of each year,sets the foundation for the financial planning and control. Council adopts the budget every twoyears, following a multi-month process of revenue estimation, spending requests from serviceareas, study sessions, and internal meetings. The city manager provides the two-year budget toCouncil in September of odd-numbered years. The Council is required to hold public hearings onthe budget and adopt it by the end of November. The appropriations ordinance is prepared andadopted by fund and in the case of capital projects and grants, by project and grant.The Charter requires balanced annual appropriations in which expenditures may not exceedrevenues and fund balances, with some exceptions for emergencies. During a fiscal year, theCouncil, by recommendation from the City Manager, may approve supplemental budgetappropriations. Within a fund, the City Manager may transfer appropriations between programs.Between funds and capital projects, the Council may make transfers based on City Managerrecommendations.In this report, management has provided budget to actual comparisons for each individualgovernmental fund for which the Council has made appropriations. For the General Fund, thiscomparison is presented on page 44 as part of the basic financial statements for the governmentalfunds. For governmental funds, other than the General Fund, this comparison is presented in thegovernmental fund section of this report, which starts on page 45. Also included in thegovernmental fund section are project-length budget-to-actual comparisons for each governmentalfund for which a project-length budget has been adopted.Factors Affecting Economic and Financial ConditionFor additional context to readers of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, managementprovides the following comments about the economy and financial status.Local economy From the early 1990s to the middle of 2001, the City experienced a period ofextremely strong economic growth. Many of the local technology firms expanded, which led tomore jobs and higher incomes. Due to the structure of the local economy, particularly the manycompanies that export nationally and globally, the 2001 recession has proven to be a severesetback. For the City, the recession has manifested itself as numerous layoffs, reduced hours, anddiminishing payrolls. This in turn leads to households lowering their spending and this directlyaffects the City’s major revenue source for governmental services, the sales and use tax. Unlikethe previous two fiscal years, total sales and use tax collections in 2004 finally exceeded thebudget projection for the year. Although use tax collections have exceeded budget projections,sales tax collections were below budget projections during four of the first five months of 2004.In the following table, management displays a table of important indicators of the City’s localeconomy. Employment growth in the county stalled in the last half of 2001 and did not regainmomentum until midway through 2004. In the third-quarter of 2004 (the latest data available), totalComprehensive Annual Financial Report5

jobs in Larimer County increased by 2,663 or 2.17%. Total wages were up 5.4% and averagewages up 3.1%.Manufacturing jobs, a primary driver of personal income, increased by 0.8%. Total wages in themanufacturing category were down 1.1%. For workers still employed in manufacturing, averagewages fell by 1.8%. Government jobs increased by 1.4%; total wages and average wagesincreased by 6.7 % and 5.2%, respectively.The unemployment rate in the table is an annual average. Unemployment in Colorado is high butappears to have stabilized. At the end of 2001 it was 5.2%, by the end of 2002 it reached 5.7%,during 2003 it reached a high of 6.5% (March 2003) and by the end of 2003 the rate fell back to5.6%. As of the end of 2004, the rate is at 5.5%. This likely understates the level ofunemployment because, following a recession, many people become discouraged and stop tryingto find work.The essential economic indicators for the City were mixed in 2004. Even though population grewat 3.76%, single family housing permits declined. Use tax from business fell even with an increasein the valuation of the new construction sector. Sales tax collections were up after being down fortwo years in a row. Growth in inflation, as measured by the Denver-Boulder-Greeley ConsumerPrice Index was about 0.86% lower than 2003, and one of the lowest readings in the last sixyears.Key Economic Indicators for Fort Collins2000-2004Actual20002001200220032004County Employment DataAnnual Unemployment Rate in PercentageActual ChangeTotal Employment (ES202) 3-Quarter AveragePercentage )125,1004.49%1,582-16.38% 310,921,759-22.44%1,89920.04% 347,620,12611.80%1,540-18.90% 280,630,125-19.27%1,398-9.22% 292,412,6444.20%1,295-7.36% 450,351,86354.01% 23,400-32.37% 6,05041.38% ,286,393-29.76% 762,606-9.91% .93%186.751.06%187.00.20%City Building and ConstructionResidential Building PermitsPercentage ChangeNew Construction Valuation – TotalPercentage ChangeCity Sales & Use Tax CollectionsCity Sales and Use Tax CollectionsPercentage ChangeSales Tax CollectionsPercentage ChangeUse Tax CollectionsPercentage ChangeUse Tax from BusinessPercentage ChangeCity PopulationPopulationPercentage ChangeRegional Consumer Price IndexDenver-Boulder-Greeley CPI-U (1982-84 100)Percentage Change6City of Fort Collins

In conjunction with the improving economy, the City’s financial health remained strong through2004. At year-end, the City held 234 million in unrestricted fund balances, approximately 33.4million more than 2003. Please see page 22 for more information about the City’s total assets.Outlook for 2005-2006 Management remains concerned about the viability of the local economyand how slow the recovery from the recession will be. Historically, Colorado State University hasbeen a stable employer that has buffered the City from severe economic downturns. Due to thesevere cutbacks in the State of Colorado budget, the University will not likely play as strong a roleto offset the impacts of the downturn. In addition, several regional manufacturing and high-techfirms have reduced staffing levels and frozen wage levels over the last four years. The outlook isfor a long slow recovery.While some of the foundation for a national economic recovery is in place, labor markets are stillweak and consumer confidence is still low. The City faces more competition for retail sales innorthern Colorado. Historically, Fort Collins has been a regional shopping magnet. However,other cities (Loveland and Greeley) in northern Colorado have also expanded their retail bases.The City’s economy and corresponding revenue structure faces several risks. The first is theextension of the recession or weakened economy. Colorado and other western states have beenhit especially hard by the downturn. Forecasters say that the Colorado economy is likely toexperience a gradual turnaround. The next major risk is the erosion of the sales tax base due totransactions that occur over the Internet. As this method of commerce continues to grow and if itretains preferential tax treatment, states and cities will lose more and more sales taxes. FortCollins will also face increased competition for retail sales as Loveland and Windsor shoppingvenues are developed. The City will remain in its role as the primary city in northern Colorado, butits economic base will face much stiffer competition from other regional cities. The City will need topersevere in its diligent efforts to manage its resources while responding to demand for services.Long-term financial planning Council and management are working on several long-term plansthat will affect the City’s financial position. Through financial management policies, Council has setpriorities among the services it provides. For the past few years and into the immediate futurethese policies put the highest priority on basic services. Below, management has highlighted a fewof the services for which long-term planning is underway.Transportation Transportation programs are supported primarily by two funds: TransportationFund and General Fund. Revenues from non-General Fund sources are projected to remainrelatively stable. Revenues from the General Fund are expected to be reduced which translatesinto some service reductions. The community does appear to recognize the need for ongoingfunding for street infrastructure. In April 2005, voters passed a City sponsored ballot initiative thatextended the City’s existing dedicated .25% sales & use tax levy for streets maintenance for anadditional 10 years beyond the expiration date of December 31, 2005.Police In the 2002 budge

City of Fort Collins, Colorado Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 Prepared by the Finance Department: