Posted: Monday, June 27, 2011 10:46 am
From staff reports
The San Mateo County civil grand jury Monday called on the county and its cities to make more information available about their finances and to help citizens understand the complexities of government revenues and expenditures.
The grand jury found that some cities do a better job than others in guiding citizens through the maze.
Half Moon Bay was praised for having a policy that requires 30 percent of annual operational expenses be held in reserve. The report notes that the city exceeded reserve recommendations every year since 2007, and that its revenues exceeded expenditures the last two years of the recession, not including internal transfers and one-time payments. Further, it is current on retiree health care payments and other obligations.
"Based on these indicators, one could conclude that Half Moon Bay was fiscally healthy," the report states.
However, the situation is more complicated than studied parameters suggest, according to the report. General Obligation Bonds purchased to cover the cost of the Beachwood settlement helped to offset a projected deficit in 2010-2011 and the city provided a waiver to its own policy requiring 30 percent be held in reserve.
"In summary, the data collected by the grand jury was accurate as it related to a limited defined set of data at a specific point in time," the report concluded, with respect to Half Moon Bay. "However, the data did not and could not tell the entire story."
The report went on to note the city includes a wealth of financial information on its Web site so that "interested citizens capable of understanding it" can understand the full financial picture.
To see the report, visit www.sanmateocourt.org/grandjury.
http://www.hmbreview.com/news/article_ad2313d6-a0e5-11e0-81b5-001cc4c03286.html
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