that the City of Spruce Grove’s Net Assets dropped by $9,043,000.00 from 2007 to 2008?

Early last week I was wondering, just how local property taxes are are being used? Now this is question is often asked but rarely acted upon, so I took it upon myself to initiate a rare occasion.

So I went over to Spruce Grove’s City Hall and asked for a copy of the last financial statement. The clerk at the front desk was most helpful and accommodating. She even guided me to hidden places on the City’s website that contains most of the information I was looking for. I also gathered a few other documents that had not made it to my house such as the garbage pickup schedule for blue bags and the Grove Cruise brochure along with the Consolidated Financial Statements of the City of Spruce Grove for the year ending December 31, 2008.

When comparing what they sent me home with and what is available on line I would recommend going on line as it is very detailed and extensive, which in itself is really the reason no one takes the time to actually find the answer to, how are my property taxes used? Too much information. There is of course way too much information to put in to one post so I break this into multiple and frequent posts.

So from the first page titled Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (link). I have included a link to the statement so you can make sure I am reading this correctly.

I am going to start examining the Financial Assets first.

It seems that our City’s Cash and Cash Equivalents has dropped from approximately $15,220,000.00 in 2007 to $5,354,000.00 in 2008, a drop in one year of about $10,000,000.00. Accounts Receivable has remained about the same but in 2008 there is a new sub heading Other Financial Assets (Note4) of 1,137,000.00. So what is that all about? Well Note 4 reads like:

4. Other Financial Assets: Other financial assets represent deposits and options to purchase related to planned land acquisitions.

Like I said, what’s this all about? Other Financial Assets represent deposits and options? Which deposits exactly, to whom and for what? Also how is an option an asset? Now it is most likely my ignorance of accounting showing up here but I would still like to know the answers to these questions.

On the liabilities side the numbers seem similar from one year to the next. In 2007 the liabilities were $21,490,000.00 and in 2008 $22,147,000.00.

So the City’s Net Assets, Assets minus liabilities went from $5,461,000.00 in 2007 to ($3,582,000.00) a drop of $9,043,000.00.

I think ($9,000,000.00) might be worth a question or two. If any of the Aldermen or Mayor or even the other City bureaucrats have answers to these questions they would be most welcome.

More to come next time..