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Tuesday, January 24 @ 7:00pm
In good times and bad, we must provide for future generations and protect our most vulnerable populations with strong reserves. As the presidential admin-istration changes, the risk of drastic cuts to federal programs and the importance of a strong reserve to protect them cannot be overestimated.
Like Aesop's industrious ant, prudent fiscal planning will help the City weather the volatility and uncertainty that is sure to come under the country's new president.
Reserves enable us to weather extreme events without having to immediately eliminate our housing and mental health programs. According to Berkeleyside, Berkeley receives around $11.5 million in federal funding, chiefly to help the City's most vulnerable, including spending on housing, supportive care, emergency shelter and health services.
The City Manager's proposed new
General Fund Reserve Policy
is well developed, clear, concise, and easy to understand. As we recommended, it sets the minimum reserve level at 16.7% and increases it to align with best practices given Berkeley's strengths and risks. The Council is asked to vote on a policy to take steps towards a 30% reserve. At the same time, the policy allows for the use of excess equity on other needs, at Council's discretion.
Item 24: Need for Structured Approach to Line of Business Experts
Line of business experts are a vital component of the City's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation. Failure to adequately train, prepare, and engage these individuals in the process will increase costs to the City, most likely because of a longer, more drawn out implementation involving more expenses for contractors and staff hours, and reduced system capabilities.
The City's line of business experts function has been in existence for approximately two decades. Coined initially as module leaders, then as application experts, the City now uses the term line of business experts to refer to individuals performing the function. While the terminology has changed, the need for a structured approach has not. The City has yet to fully develop the function, i.e., fully define its purpose, fully delineate its roles and responsibilities, and fully consider the resources required to train and develop designated personnel.
On June 28, 2016, the City Auditor's Office presented to City Council an independent audit completed by Macias Gini &
MGO's audit included ten recommendations, three of which have been fully implemented, three partially implemented, and four not yet implemented. This status report provides information on the actions that the City Auditor's Office has taken to address MGO's recommendations. We present the details on the progress that we have made to address MGO's recommendations in the attachment to this report.
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Thank you so much for continuing to support the work that we do on your behalf as independent performance auditors. With your support, we will continue to help make Berkeley better! See you at Council Tuesday night!
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Sincerely,
Ann-Marie Hogan, Auditor
City of Berkeley Auditor's Office |
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| Audit News from the City Auditor January 2017 |
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