Report 2018-110 Recommendations

To ensure that it complies with state law, Lincoln should immediately review all of its outstanding interfund loans to determine whether the borrowing funds can repay the loans according to the terms. For any loan that is from a restricted fund and that does not have the capacity to be repaid, Lincoln should develop a plan that ensures repayment within a reasonable time frame, including seeking possible alternative financing or revenue sources, such as the general fund, bonds, one-time revenue, or a tax increase, to address the obligation.

To ensure that city staff provides the city council adequate information to make its decisions regarding interfund loans and transfers, the city council should immediately collaborate with the city manager and department directors to establish formal expectations regarding the content of staff reports, and it should hold the city manager accountable for ensuring all staff reports meet those expectations.

To ensure that it avoids accumulating surpluses, Lincoln should establish policies and procedures by August 2019 requiring it to review its fund balances at least annually and, if necessary, reduce its fees within a reasonable time frame.

To comply with state law, Lincoln should immediately discontinue its practice of using restricted funds to subsidize other funds that have year-end deficits and that lack the ability to permanently repay the transfers within 90 days of the close of the fiscal year.

To ensure that it complies with the state constitution, Lincoln should establish and adhere to procedures that account for revenue and expenditures in each landscaping and lighting zone separately, and it should discontinue its use of surplus revenue from one zone to offset a deficit in another zone. It should take these actions by June 2019.

By June 2019, Lincoln should establish accounting procedures to ensure that it records all costs of city maintenance from the appropriate funds, including apportioning the general benefit costs to the general fund.

Lincoln should immediately commence a fee study that ensures its fees for water capacity are commensurate with the costs of current and planned future water capacity needs. To the extent that Lincoln has previously overcharged for water capacity fees, it should develop a plan to provide equitable consideration to those who overpaid such fees, and it should eliminate any unnecessary surplus in the water connections fund.

To ensure that its fees are commensurate with the cost of providing services, Lincoln should develop and follow a timeline by June 2019 for conducting periodic fee studies for each of its services, including updating its staff rates annually.

To the extent allowable by law, the city council should develop a plan by August 2019 to provide equitable consideration to ratepayers for the utility costs they incurred that were higher than necessary because of the city's practice of not paying for its own water, sewer, and solid waste services.

To ensure transparency to the public, beginning with its fiscal year 2019-20 budget, Lincoln should specify in its annual budget the amount that it intends to spend for the use of municipal utilities--water, sewer, and solid waste--and the funds that it intends to use to pay for these costs.

By August 2019, Lincoln should establish and follow policies and procedures for budgeting, preparing its financial statements at the end of each fiscal year, and approving expenditures based on the Government Finance Officers Association guidelines and other best practices.

To help ensure that the city manager fully informs the city council of all relevant information before the council approves the annual budget, the city should specify by July 2019 the supporting information that it expects staff to provide with the proposed budget. Lincoln should then update its duty statements to require the city manager and department directors to provide the city council with this information as part of the city's budget process.

To ensure that the city complies with its purchasing policy, the city manager should immediately develop and implement procedures for staff to obtain and document the required approval from the city manager or the city council before committing city resources. Beginning immediately, the city manager should also report to the city council on a regular basis all purchases that the city manager approves.

To ensure that city management holds city staff accountable for resolving deficiencies identified in its annual audits, Lincoln's city council should immediately require the city manager to track and report progress in addressing outstanding audit recommendations at least quarterly.

By June 2019, Lincoln should develop and follow a process to ensure that it accurately and promptly records all year-end closing entries in its general ledger and issues its comprehensive annual financial report within the period that state law requires.

To ensure transparency in providing accurate fee information to the public, Lincoln should immediately update and publicly disclose its master fee schedule to reflect the fees that it actually charges. In addition, Lincoln should periodically review its fee schedule to identify outdated fees that do not accurately reflect the cost of providing services. It should revise those fees to incorporate the costs commensurate with those services and update its master fee schedule accordingly.

To ensure that it applies the correct fee credits to developers, Lincoln should develop policies and procedures by September 2019 for establishing fee credits and maintaining adequate documentation to justify modifications to fee credits, including credits it awards based on changes in fee schedules and updated development agreements.