Auditor Gives ‘Clean Opinion’ Of City Financials

SIDNEY – The city received a clean opinion from auditor Rauner & Associates during the regular session of the Sidney City Council on Tuesday. Robert Rauner was on hand to quickly review the audit and said some rules had changed from the previous year, but for the city’s business, things were looking good.

“It’s a clean opinion,” Rauner told council. “The city is in good shape.”

Rauner quickly touched base on three forms of accounting within the city including full accrual, modified accrual and straight cash. There were no errors found within the city accounting, although the report details a significant deficiency.

Rauner explained that the deficiency was not a material one. It was that the City of Sidney does not have an accountant on staff to prepare a certain report. The report was instead compiled by Rauner & Associates. The response to the deficiency by the auditing agency was that the benefit of hiring an accountant does not outweigh the costs.

The city had ups and downs in some financial sectors, like the street department in which Rauner said the balance is historically high though this past year it shows as a deficit.

“The city had a good year actually,” Rauner said.

In other business, another discussion session was held to determine the future of the Sidney-Deadwood Hiking/Biking/Walking Trail extension to the Interstate 80 business district. It was determined by council to continue to move the project forward in a 4-1 vote in which Councilman Bob VanVleet  cast the “no” vote.

City Manager Gary Person told council that discussions with the state have determined that a decision needed to be made as soon as possible to either kill the project or go forward with it.

Mayor David Weiderspon presented concerns about the trail ending abruptly in the middle of nowhere when the project ran out of money. Cabela’s CFO Ralph Castner spoke on behalf of Cabela’s and suggested that the company was willing to route up to $200,000 of collected occupation tax funds toward getting the project from its stopping point to Sapp Bros. Currently, Cabela’s has $161,000 in the fund.

Resident Carl Cornelius said the path could provide a safe way of walking from downtown to the I-80 area as not too long ago he nearly struck someone walking on the multi-lane section of 11th Avenue near Old Post Road.

“Each council has a legacy,” Cornelius said. “I’d hate to see yours be giving back $500,000 for $24,000.”

The city was the recipient of a $500,000 to get the extension on the trail built. Halting the trail project at its current position would save the city approximately $24,000 on costs. The city has budgeted $171,000 toward the project, and is the lid to which the city can fund the project.

Councilman Marvin Filsinger said he felt Sapp Bros. was a bad place to end the trail, and felt the city would be engaging in reckless spending.

VanVleet said it looks like it’s too much money to spend on a trail, meanwhile the city has streets in disrepair and budget shortfalls. Councilman Wendall Gaston said the $500,000 couldn’t be spent on streets.

“To me it’s a win-win situation to keep pushing the project on,” Councilman Dalan Hiett said. “If we don’t take it, there are going to be communities lined up who will. We can get it done for what? Twenty cents on the dollar? To me, it just makes sense.”

Tourism director Ramona Joyce agreed that the trail project should move forward, if anything so the city doesn’t receive a “black mark” on it from a state perspective. Once the city rejects a grant, it would have a hard time getting another, she said.

Short discussion was held on an alternate route, and whether Cabela’s would help complete the trail if ended elsewhere. Castner said Cabela’s is bound by law to use their funds for enhancement in the area in which the fund was collected.

With further public input from local contractor Keith Nienhueser, Jim Joyce, John Katos and Cornelius, that clarified what the city would save, chances of getting another grant, potential future use in which travelers are already seeking a path and the percentage return on money invested, council approved moving forward with the project.

The project has been on the table for approximately five years.

Council also:

•    Approved making temporary diagonal parking along Jackson Street for the Sidney High School permanent. Streets department superintendent Hank Radtke said new measurements would need to be made to accommodate a wider gate, but with the old stripes wearing off, he didn't see a problem.

•    Heard from Austin Hrbeck, a local teenager who said he made some bad choices a couple months ago and broke a window at the electrical plant downtown. He apologized for the act.

•    Received an update on proposed sales tax legislation LB967 that originally found support from the League of Municipalities, but is now opposed as the bill calls for utilizing state municipal funds to create a fund that cities could pull from should the state refund more than 10 percent of a communities local option sales tax in a fiscal year. Person said the challenge with the bill was creating the fund, and an amendment to do a one-time, one percent pull of sales tax to create the fund is in the works. Other amendments could be in store for the bill, officials said.

•    Heard a presentation by library director Doris Jensen on the library statistics for the past year.

•    Approved a resolution approving certificate of payment for work completed on the wastewater treatment plant project. Joe Baxter, with engineer Olsson Associates, said the project was on schedule. There is some electric work being completed while workers wait for paint to cure. “The pieces are coming together real nice,” Baxter said. Payment amounts of $290,303.11 and $12,737.42 were approved.

•    Approved claims for January 2010, including claims for Endurance Flag and Sidney Farm Supply approved by a 4-1 vote with VanVleet – owner of those businesses – casting the “no” vote, Hillside Ventures in which Filsinger abstained, approved by a 4-0 vote, and White Bluffs in which Weiderspon abstained, approved with a 4-0 vote. All other claims were approved unanimously. Council members who turn in bills to the city for a business they own must abstain from voting on payment of bills.