City Council hears audit report, approves street lights

The Mountain Brook City Council tonight heard an audit report presentation from Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC, as of and for the year that ended Sept. 30.

According to the report:

Assets of the City exceeded its liabilities by $87.1 million. Of this amount, reads a report summary,  $1.23 million is restricted, allocated for the Emergency Communication District ($411,000) and for road improvements from the State Shared Gasoline Tax special revenue funds ($820,000). The remaining $10.75 million is available for use by the City to fund future municipal services and to meet its obligations to employees and creditors.  

As of Sept. 30, 2015, the City reported $34.4 million in fund balances, an increase of $4 million from 2014. Of the $34.4 million fund balances, $14.1 million (41 percent) is reported in the General Fund, $15.1 million (44 percent) in the Capital Projects Fund, $4 million (12 percent) in the Debt Service Fund, and $1.2 million (3 percent) in the Other Governmental Funds.

In 2015, the city also paid off its balance on bonds from 2007. At that time, the city had issued $5 million in bonds, said the city’s finance director Steven Boone, and was paying 3.75 to 4 percent interest on the bonds.

Financially speaking, Mountain Brook is “among those in the best shape across the state,” according to the audit.

Tonight the council also:

• Approved a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement with Stone & Sons Electrical Contractors with respect to the installation of generators for back-up power for traffic lights on U. S. Highway 280.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the installation of two street lights on Westchester Circle (at 3601 and 3625).

The next regular meeting of the City Council is Feb. 22, 2016, at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber of City Hall located at 56 Church Street.