Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the January 2023 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

The annual audit for fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 was finalized in December. Staff submitted the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) to Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for consideration of the Excellence in Financial Reporting award. The City has received this award for 31 years, and expects to receive it again for the most recent reporting period.

Finance Department staff are underway with budget projections for general revenue (property taxes, franchise fees, and state shared revenue, for example), as well as personnel costs for the upcoming biennium.

Utility Billing
49 water accounts were shut off this month for non-payment. This is the highest number we have seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff has not changed any processes related to shut off, so we are hopeful this is not the new normal. If a high number of shut offs becomes more regular, staff will explore other options to ensure that payments are being made on time.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the November 2022 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Finance Department staff have started preliminary work for the Biennium 2024-2025 budget process. There are currently four open seats on the Budget Committee, with only two new applicants to day. We will continue to recruit in hopes that we will have a full Committee.

The City continues to bargain with the Sandy Police Association for a contract that will be retroactively applied to July 1, 2022. The Council has been kept up-to-date with the status of negotiations during Executive Session meetings.

Staff will be bringing a request before the Council in December to modify a few items on the Master Fee Schedule. As always, our goal is to cover the cost of providing certain services, while also ensuring we keep pace with rising inflation.

Municipal Court
We continue to see more defendants coming into City Hall to take care of their citations, as well as an increase in requests for trials. $63,950 in citations were sent to collections during the month. Staff will be implementing a new process in January in hopes that defendants will make payments on their citations in-lieu of needing to be sent to collections to clear their citation.

Utility Billing
37 accounts were shut off this month for non-payment. This is the highest number we have seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff has not changed any processes related to shut off, so we are hopeful this is not the new normal. If a high number of shut offs becomes more regular, staff will explore other options to ensure that payments are being made on time.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the September 2022 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Work is underway with our auditing firm, Talbot Korvola & Warwick, to complete the annual audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.

The City continues to bargain with the Sandy Police Association for a contract that will be retroactively applied to July 1, 2022. An more detailed update will be provided to the Council at the October 3rd meeting.

Municipal Court
The Court has seen an increase in the citations the past two months, resulting in more foot traffic on court days and more requests for trials. Citation revenue is slightly up, and we are hopeful this trend continues.

Utility Billing
Water shutoffs for nonpayment were 30 this month. This number has been fairly steady the past few months. We’ve had some complaints regarding high utility bills, some of which can be attributed to the increase in rates, but most have been related to increased consumption during the summer months. Now that we are heading into the rainy season, we suspect bills to reduce to a more manageable amount for these customers.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the April 2022 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

The annual audit for Fiscal Year 2021 was issued on March 31st. Our auditors, Talbot Korvola & Warwick, will present the audit to the Council in May.

Utility Billing
The payment contracts related to COVID-19 have now been paid off. We continue to work with delinquent customers on reasonable payment arrangements when necessary.

Water shutoffs for nonpayment jumped to 35 this month, which is an increase of 20 from the month prior. This seems to be an isolated increase, with no evidence of a larger issue related to past due accounts.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the February 2022 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

The annual audit is nearing completion, just in time to start the next audit for fiscal year 2022!

Municipal Court
A total of $28,735 was sent to collections this month for unpaid citations. Court staff is beginning to work on updating collection practices for unpaid payment plans on convictions, as well as failure to appear to court for traffic and parking citations.

Utility Billing
The remaining payment contracts for COVID related past due balances is now down to only 25 accounts totaling $2,509.18. These should be paid off completely by the end of April.

Water shutoffs for nonpayment were 15 this month, which is only a slight change from the month prior.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the January 2022 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Our annual audit (covering Fiscal Year 2021) is in full swing. Our new auditors, Talbot, Korvola & Warwick, LLP, have so far been great to work with and things are moving along as expected.

Utility Billing
Water shutoffs for the month for non-payment totaled 26, an increase of nine from the month prior.

Accounting/Finance
Click here to be taken to the November 2021 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Utility Billing
We are now down to just 26 long term payment arrangements for utility accounts that were past due related to COVID. These 26 accounts are over halfway through their 12 month repayment plan, with a total outstanding amount of $9,659.95.

Water shutoffs for the month for non-payment totaled 15, a decrease of six from the month prior.

Click here to be taken to the October 2021 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Accounting/Finance
This month the City’s insurance carrier, CIS, completed an reappraisal of all facilities on our property schedule. This is typically completed every five years to ensure replacement values are accurate and not any significant improvements that may have been added to our facilities

Finance staff finalized fiscal year 2021 closing entries this month and all documents were forwarded to the Auditor. The annual audit should take place in December, with final documents produced sometime in January. Council may recall that the City has entered into an agreement with Talbot Korvola and Warwick, LLP to provide audit services. In future years, we will be scheduled earlier in the year for our annual audit and have a more timely turnaround for finalized reports.

Utility Billing
We are now down to just 27 long term payment arrangements for utility accounts that were past due related to COVID. These 27 accounts are halfway through their 12 month repayment plan, with a total outstanding amount of $12,407.

Water shutoffs for the month for non-payment totaled 21, a slight decrease from the month prior.

Municipal Court
84 violations totaling $27,816 were sent to collections during the month.

Click here to be taken to the August 2021 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

The City received its first tranche of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds this month, totaling $1,263,900. Possible uses for these funds will be discussed on September 7 during a Council work session.

The United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD) debt that was used to construct the existing wastewater treatment plant was paid off on August 19, 18 years ahead of the scheduled retirement date.

Click here to be taken to the May 2021 Financial Report, which includes information for all funds and departments.

Water shut off for past due accounts resumed in March. Nearly all of our active and past due accounts have been brought current, with the exception of 34 accounts. These 34 accounts have entered into long-term payments arrangements and will have their accounts current within twelve months.

Initial appearances are still discontinued for municipal court. Staff is mailing letters to all defendants to notify them of the payment options available. Trials are being conducted in person. Staff is encouraging defendants to communicate with the Court regularly, and we are hopeful that defendants continue to utilize our multiple payment options to pay their fines.

The City exhausted our share of CARES act funding for COVID-19 related expenses earlier this year. Most recent estimates indicate that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will total just over $2.5 million. We expect to see half of these funds disbursed to us this summer, with the remaining half disbursed the following summer. Staff is closely monitoring allowable uses and will bring additional information to the Council in the coming months.