Ch.1-1
The city of Sacramento, California published their Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in December 2014 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014. The CAFR breaks down and explains the financial accounting for the city during that time. Under both federal and state law, this report is in compliance with the accountability required so the voters can see how the money the city collects and receives is utilized. They cite the Article IX of the City’s Charter to prove accountability and establish a third party verification of the report. Article IX allows under Section 44 for an independent auditor to review and certify the CAFR is accurate. Under this review, they describe the charter-government functions of Sacramento. The Introduction Letter is broken down into distinct sections, each touching on various operational aspects of the city including estimated population, services the government provides to the populace, and overview of the city’s profile. This profile includes the location and general statistics of the city itself. One section of the introduction letter is how the financial funds the city uses are set and defined. There are four separate, legal entities that make up the fiscal operations of the City. In discussing the current and future plans of the city, a positive note was reported that the city, using funds collected from Measure U, a ½ cent increase of sales and use taxes, provided enough extra funding for the city to maintain general services without cutting or reducing them. Different plans are discussed in a brief overview that touches on estimates of general fund collections and the allocation of resources required for maintaining and growing the city’s fiscal structure. One of the plans highlighted deals with a part of the general fund that accounts for the economic uncertainty that cities have.
As a part of the