Grant Meyer Major flooding issues this past spring and summer in multiple communities throughout the region, in addition to the “oil boom” in western ND and eastern Montana, shed light on why a strong enterprise risk management (ERM) framework for a municipality can be very beneficial. What is “ERM”? ERM, in short order, puts into operation, the … Read more
Several interesting bills came out of North Dakota’s special session in November. One of particular note is Senate Bill 2371, which includes funding for several programs that are critical to flood disaster recovery and energy-impacted western North Dakota. Here are some of the highlights of SB 2371. The Land Department has been appropriated $30 million … Read more
North Dakota bond issuers only have a couple more weeks to push any general obligation bond deals through before the first of the year. As of January 1, 2012 GOs will be on hold until voters decide whether they want to abolish property taxes during the June election. The North Dakota Public Finance Authority will … Read more
A major adjustment to a federal rule aims to ensure bond issuers have access to the most competitive bond structure. Until now, financial advisors could serve double duty as underwriters on the same bonding issue. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-23 went into effect in late November. The change prohibits municipal securities dealers … Read more
One measure of a utility’s capacity to bring in enough revenue to cover operating costs is the Operating Ratio. Calculated as the total operating revenue divided by total operating expense (excluding depreciation and debt service principal), the minimum target for the Operating Ratio is 1.0. The two graphics shown below illustrate the 2010 operating ratios … Read more
We are often asked what “the other guys” are doing when it comes to the practice of making transfers from utility funds. We posed this question in the 2011 North Central Region Utility Rate Survey. To quantify the size of the transfers made, we asked for the annual transfer amount, either as a percentage of … Read more