The resiliency and stability of the City's finances are a significant asset to the community. This stability comes from having a set of financial policies that are designed to provide staff with the guidance necessary to manage the City's finances effectively and maximize the predictability of the plan. Through utilization of the Financial Management Policy Statements (FMPS) – first adopted in 2002, the City has achieved the second lowest tax rate for cities our size and maintained a AAA bond rating since 2011. This allows the City to borrow at a lower cost, thereby implementing more projects with less of an impact to the tax bill.

Bi-annual review, update and adoption of the FMPS provides guidance and direction to staff in the management of the City's finances. This planned periodic review allows the policy direction to be adjusted as needed and adapts the direction of the City's financial management to reflect the intent of the City Council. The FMPS are the guiding structure that staff uses to develop financial strategies such as the annual budget, long range financial and capital planning. Additionally, bond rating agencies utilize the FMPS to gauge the sustainability of the city's finances and evaluate the risks to current and potential bondholders that their investment will be repaid timely. The rating agencies frequently cite the FMPS in evaluating the City's financial management during these reviews.

One of the highest priority Strategic Projects for FY2018 is the review and update of the FMPS. At the fall retreat, the City Council requested to be fully engaged on the proposed changes and for the project to be reviewed with the entire Council rather than utilizing the Finance/Audit Committee to review as has been used in past updates.

This workshop is intended to provide a high level overview of the City's financial management policies, our previous and current financial successes, a summary of areas identified for further discussion, and an outline of the proposed process and timeline for reviewing the proposed changes to the FMPS with the City Council in advance of preparing the FY19 budget.

Upon completion of this workshop, staff is suggesting to schedule a bi-weekly series of workshops in lieu of spring retreat to allow for focused discussion on the following topics related to the FMPS and the annual budget and capital improvement program process, including:

• Revenue Assumptions
• Expenditure Assumptions
• Long Range Forecast
• Capital Projects Planning/Funding
• Economic Development Corporations
• Review of Revisions to FMPS (Based on Discussions)

At the conclusion of the workshop series, staff would proceed with preparing the revisions for review and formal adoption by the City Council.  Following adoption of the revised FMPS, the policy updates would be implemented in preparation of the FY19 Annual Budget and Five Year CIP/Forecast.