The Finance Department is responsible for financial management of all City funds and for providing central support services to other City departments. Services provided include: purchasing, facilities maintenance, risk management, payroll, accounts payable, utility billing, revenue collections, budget development, treasury management, grant management, financial reporting and information services.
General Fiscal Services
The general fiscal services provided include: payroll, accounts payable, revenue collection, treasury management, grants administration, budget development, and financial reporting. Payroll services include providing bi-monthly payments for the entire city workforce of permanent and temporary employees as well as filing all required reports with the Federal and State government and with the retirement system. Accounts payable services consist of making all disbursements for the City and Trust Funds. Revenue and collections include collection of all general government revenues such as business and transient occupancy taxes, and collection of all enterprise fund revenues such as water, sewer, electric and transit. Treasury management includes investment of funds, cash management and debt management. Grant administration consists of preparation of and billing for transit, infrastructure and disaster relief funds from other government agencies. Budget development involves coordination of departmental budget preparation and the publication of the operating and capital improvement budgets. Financial reporting consists of preparation of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, coordination of annual audits, filing of required statutory reports and providing operational information to departments during the year.
Utility Services
The department is responsible for utility billing services for water, sewer and electric, and the management of 2,200 resident and business utility customer accounts. The department bills all customers monthly and maintains a payment service counter and a drive-up payment drop box. The department is also responsible for preparing rate studies to identify appropriate billing rates. The department has been exploring different methods of service delivery and recently installed the drive-up payment drop box (located behind City Hall) for the convenience of customers. With the upcoming requirement to provide unbundled electric bills, additional outsourcing of elements of the billing services is being explored.
Other Central Services
Other central services provided by the department include: information services, communications and office equipment services, purchasing and stores, facilities maintenance and risk management. Information services consist of operation and maintenance of the central computer and software and the network of personal computers. Communication and office equipment services include managing the contracts and replacement fund for telephone, voice mail, copy machines and other office equipment. Purchasing coordinates all procurement activities in the city. Facilities services such as repair and maintenance are provided under contracts that are managed by the department. The department coordinates with the Northern California Cities Self Insurance Fund to provide risk management services for the city.
