HB 164 The bill sponsor said that we’ve had a productive discussion
Intent is to ensure that enterprise funds are being used for
purposes for which they were intended Concern about overcharging residents Cities are not using them to overcharge and transfer the
excess back to general fund and bypassing truth in taxation Bill does not prevent a transfer that is commensurate to the
overhead costs Saratoga Springs example Review State Auditor’s definition of enterprise fund …
restriction on proceeds is implied agreement between gov’t and rate payers Intended purpose of these funds is a commensurate to costs Examples in case law where cities are losing constitutional
cases on enterprise funds User fees must meet certain criteria to be valid: fee must
be exchanged for particular government service, fee must be paid by choice and
individual can avoid paying the charge, charges must be commensurate for
expenses and not raise revenues Unintended consequence of current code What problem are we trying to solve? At first, unsure of how many cities were doing
this but based on the response there are many cities that are using the
mechanism to artificially keep property taxes low Raised concern about disclosure … I can confidently say that
residents are unaware that they are overcharged on water, sewer, or other funds
for general city purposes Final thing is this is a policy decision and should not
overcharge or move funds and worry about distrust with public or residents Disputes “dividend” term and sees it as an excess charge Eliason question to clarify GASBY and re-read GASBY and
current local gov’t justification and CFOs signing the statement of compliance Gov’t Acct Standard Board and Auditor’s office has provided
on website … enterprise fund is separate fiscal entity designed to account for
fund … Lincoln: transfer money to other fund so as to pay, not pay
for service out of the enterprise fund King, Briscoe spoke against the bill Sagers Every year there’s an audit about appropriateness that is
made public, where is the abuse of the process? Lisonbee Syracuse City reviewed internal allocation process and
supposed to be reimbursements for other activities This bill trying to reflect case law so that cities won’t get
sued WHAT IS THE CITATION? Mayor Petersen testimony about negotiations with other
cities for a waste water treatment plant, cost impact on Logan resident and
breadth of tax base Seth Perrins notice requirements Justin Zollinger about the breadth of the rate payers |