While mayoral and council candidates bemoan Columbia’s budget woes of recent years, Mayor Bob Coble is eager to hand over a healthy ledger sheet. In that vein, he has made a point of sharing good news when he has it. Tonight, I got this e-mail from him:

Tomorrow City Council takes up the budget. I wanted to share with you the latest budget figures from Bill Ellis. The City’s general fund rainy day fund as of June 30th will be (estimate) $11.5 million or 11% of the general fund. Additionally, the City has $19.4 million in GASB 45 reserves, of which over half would be attributed to the general fund. Moody’s counts GASB 45 reserves as part of the rainy day funds or unallocated reserves. I am attaching Bill Ellis’ email with a more detailed explanation. The City’s reserves are now where they need to be. Additionally, the March budget figures show that the City is at least $5.5 million under expenses for the current fiscal year. Revenues are holding steady.

I want to thank our staff and City Council for the City’s financial systems and budget being fixed. In addition to the current budget’s expenses significantly under budget, and the City’s reserves at the appropriate level, the City’s accounting systems and books are back in order. We have hired a new team in Accounting and Treasury. Financial statements are current and are online. The City’s check register is online. All City bank accounts and investment accounts are reconciled. Moody’s reaffirmed in 2009 the City’s excellent credit rating for the general fund and the water and sewer fund.

I will keep you updated as the budget progresses.

I’m happy for the mayor that he’s able to report this at this time. I’m not expert enough to know whether the city’s out of the woods, but this is certainly encouraging. Here’s the message from Mr. Ellis to which he refers:

If revenue holds, my projection is rainy day fund $ 11,538,207 June 30,
2010.
The $ 19,413,460.00 is in addition and separate for GASB 45.