HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 7Finance and Investment Committee Regular Meeting
Town of Los Altos Hills
Town Hall, Monday, July 7, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm by Chairman Epstein
Members present: Courtenay Corrigan , Allan Epstein, Kjell Karlsson, Jim Lai, Frank Lloyd,
Susan Mason, Stan Mok, Bill Silver, Roddy Sloss and Chris Welborn.
Members absent: John Radford
Staff present: Carl Cahill, Town Manager and Yulia Carter, Administrative Services
Director
Guests present: Carlos Oblites, Director, Asset Management, PFM Group
Public present: Bill Balson
Approval of minutes:
The May 5, 2014 Regular Meeting minutes were approved by all members in attendance who also attended
the May 5, 2014 meeting.
Ad Hoc Sewer Fund Committee report by Roddy Sloss
Mr. Sloss noted that the Ad Hoc Sewer Fund Budget Review Committee formed at the June 2, 2014 Joint
Council FIC budget review meeting made recommendations that were endorsed by Town Staff and adopted
by Council except for a recommendation to lower proposed allocated overhead fees to the Sewer Fund that
was not endorsed by Town staff and was deferred for further study by the Committee, Staff and Council.
Quarterly Report on Town Investments by Carlo Oblites
Mr. Oblites handed out a slide presentation distributed to the committee before the meeting and presented its
contents plus an additional page showing estimated FY‘15 monthly interest earnings totaling $52,000 based
on the assumption that approximately $9.7 million will be available for investment during this period and
investments would be held to maturity. Ms. Carter is preparing a cash flow forecast that she expects will
confirm the $9.7 million assumption. The presentation highlighted events affecting investment markets the
Town participates in, changes to the Town’s portfolio, compliance with the Town’s investment policy, the
portfolio composition and PFMs strategy and outlook for the Town’s fiscal year ending June 2015. In
response to questions and discussion, Mr. Oblites will propose amendments to the Town’s investment policy
to align certain maximum diversification limits more closely with the State of California Code, e.g. A rated
Corporate Bond investments are allowed up to 30% of the total portfolio under California Code but only 20%
per Town Policy and he will prepare a comparative analysis of investment results for agencies following this
policy. The Committee will review proposed investment policy changes at its next meeting and consider
proposing a policy change to Council. [See http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/cdiac/LAIG/guideline.pdf page 12]
July 7, 2014 FIC meeting, con’d. page 2.
Report on Council Activities of Interest by Courtenay Corrigan
Ms. Corrigan reported that Council lowered the annual contribution budget from $60,000 to $30,000. Mr.
Cahill reported that staff is evaluating Sewer consultants proposed by the Ad Hoc Sewer Committee, two
new Sewer pumps were purchased, West Bay is in the process of being engaged to serve as the Sewer
maintenance provider effective August, 1, 2014, and that a new Sheriff’s contract had been signed for a ten
year term. A fiscal year 2015 budget was adopted by Council.
Report on Finance department activities of interest by Yulia Carter
Ms. Carter reported that a Finance Manager, Pak Lin, has been hired and will begin work July 16, 2014,
ABAG insurance costs are expected to be $30,000 to $40,000 lower than budgeted for fiscal year 2015, field
work for the annual audit is scheduled to begin October 6, 2014, and a CAFR draft for FIC review is planned
for the December meeting. Roadway Impact Fee (“RIF”) refunds are almost complete and unclaimed
amounts at present are slightly over $300,000. The Quarterly Financial Control Report was presented and
discussed and Ms. Carter noted that she regularly reviews the insurance claims made. Written Town financial
policies, procedures and practices were distributed before the meeting. Ms. Carter stated they are a
compilation of documents that she had found in finance files. Discussion included suggestions that staff
formulate a proposal for written policies, procedures and practices after reviewing similar documents
maintained by other agencies for presentation to the FIC and that fraud prevention procedures be updated to
reflect current best practices and provide for reporting to higher management levels if satisfactory steps are
not taken.
Presentations from the floor:
None.
Election of Committee Officers for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015:
All attending Committee members unanimously elected Mr. Epstein as Chairman, Mr. Lloyd, as
Vice Chairman and Mr. Sloss as Secretary.
Proposed topics and dates for future meetings:
The Committee reviewed and updated the FIC Key Projects Report handed out in the meeting. The next FIC
special meeting date is Monday, August 25, 2014 to discuss changes to investment policy, an insurance
review by Mr. Sloss and a review of the first six months of the Westwind Barn Concessionaire’s financial
results. Topics for future meetings include reviews of Pensions, written Town policies, procedures and
practices, Audit and FY’14 CAFR and Sewer Fund rates.
Adjournment:
The meeting adjourned at 6:15 pm
Respectfully submitted by Roddy Sloss, Committee Secretary