Carefree Truth
Issue #604, November 20, 2017
Town accountant Jim Keen gave a brief financial overview for Fiscal Year 2017/18 to date. In the first quarter, sales tax revenue was up about 20%, in part from construction sales tax from new home sales. Retail and food sales tax revenue was up about 4% over this time last year. These are two bright spots that Mr. Keen hopes to see continue. Receipts coming in for October look good. The Council chamber improvements are almost finished, so the Town is in good shape moving forward. He expects a good year, with money being put in the bank once again. $592,000 was added to the reserves at the end of Fiscal Year 2015/16.
https://vimeo.com/242684248
Gary Neiss said spring is budget time and fall is audit time. The Carefree Water Company and the Town of Carefree are both audited every year by independent third party Hinton Burdick, PLLC. They verify that there is no misappropriation of funds, insure that accounting practices are followed, confirm compliance with auditing standards, and further insure transparency of the Town's funds. Table #6, page 13 of the audit is a good indication of the Town's financial standing. The 10 year window looks at revenues and expenditures, as well as net and ending fund balances. Carefree is a very conservative and nimble organization.
Issue #604, November 20, 2017
Town accountant Jim Keen gave a brief financial overview for Fiscal Year 2017/18 to date. In the first quarter, sales tax revenue was up about 20%, in part from construction sales tax from new home sales. Retail and food sales tax revenue was up about 4% over this time last year. These are two bright spots that Mr. Keen hopes to see continue. Receipts coming in for October look good. The Council chamber improvements are almost finished, so the Town is in good shape moving forward. He expects a good year, with money being put in the bank once again. $592,000 was added to the reserves at the end of Fiscal Year 2015/16.
https://vimeo.com/242684248
Gary Neiss said spring is budget time and fall is audit time. The Carefree Water Company and the Town of Carefree are both audited every year by independent third party Hinton Burdick, PLLC. They verify that there is no misappropriation of funds, insure that accounting practices are followed, confirm compliance with auditing standards, and further insure transparency of the Town's funds. Table #6, page 13 of the audit is a good indication of the Town's financial standing. The 10 year window looks at revenues and expenditures, as well as net and ending fund balances. Carefree is a very conservative and nimble organization.
During the past 10 years, approximately $2 million dollars has been put in the bank, on top of investing in the infrastructure and supporting services the community wants. This includes a comprehensive street maintenance program that invested approximately $3 million in over 105 miles of streets. A Town preserve was begun, and the vision is to build it to the top of Continental Mountain. Town office space and a Council chambers were secured. Carefree collaborated with Cave Creek to secure Federal funding that connected both communities and provided additional public safety. Millions were invested in the quality of life.
The financially sound community can be attributed to both the current and the past Councils, as well as to the dedicated staff members like Jim Keen. The auditor did not find any adjustments for the 2015/16 fiscal year, nor were there any significant findings. Carefree doesn't segregate some of the financial duties due to the small staff. Jim is the accountant. Kandace French is the treasurer and clerk. This is typical for small organizations such as Carefree.
Jim Keen explained that the paperwork in the Council packets showed the revenues and expenditures for the different departments on one side of the page and what's in the audit on the other side of the page. The audit is more generalized, but he wanted the Council members to see it the way the monthly reports are categorized. Revenues and expenditures match up with those categories. Crimson Singleton, the auditor, attended telephonically. She went through some of the processes and summarized by saying the submission from the Town was in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. It was a clean audit. "Everything is going well." She thanked the Town for again choosing Hinton Burdick.
The audit was unanimously accepted by the Council.
https://vimeo.com/242671972
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
The financially sound community can be attributed to both the current and the past Councils, as well as to the dedicated staff members like Jim Keen. The auditor did not find any adjustments for the 2015/16 fiscal year, nor were there any significant findings. Carefree doesn't segregate some of the financial duties due to the small staff. Jim is the accountant. Kandace French is the treasurer and clerk. This is typical for small organizations such as Carefree.
Jim Keen explained that the paperwork in the Council packets showed the revenues and expenditures for the different departments on one side of the page and what's in the audit on the other side of the page. The audit is more generalized, but he wanted the Council members to see it the way the monthly reports are categorized. Revenues and expenditures match up with those categories. Crimson Singleton, the auditor, attended telephonically. She went through some of the processes and summarized by saying the submission from the Town was in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. It was a clean audit. "Everything is going well." She thanked the Town for again choosing Hinton Burdick.
The audit was unanimously accepted by the Council.
https://vimeo.com/242671972
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.