City Manager's Annual Report Annual Report 2018 | A Year In Review | Page 45

ACCOUNTABILITY
Automating for Efficiency
The Information Technology (IT) Development Division automated the duties of two staff members creating
new efficiencies within the department. A significant result was the automation of the processing of over 1,000
FPL monthly bills. In the past, these bills were manually entered and processed, making it a full-time job. This
freed up staff to focus on other technology demands. This integration is now completely automated, interfacing
with FPL and our financial management system resulting in streamlined payments.
City Makes Progress on Reducing Debt
The City’s goal is to be a financially sound city that maintains a fiscally responsible level of debt. The City is working
very hard toward its strategic goal to be a high-performing organization by reducing its debt balance. City Council
is united in paying down the debt, and the City has made significant progress. The largest portion of the overall
debt is enterprise debt. This debt is repaid by user charges. The smallest portion of our overall debt is economic
development debt. Included in the City’s debt is governmental debt, which is repaid with a voter-approved portion
of property taxes, and special assessment debt, which is repaid with special assessments collected by property
owners.
The City Council continues to make debt reduction one of its highest priorities. In the FY 2018-19 budget, there was
a recommendation by the City Manager to Council to set aside $1.7 million for additional debt retirement, which
Council approved.
Over the past six years, the City has refunded 10 bonds which resulted in savings of $377.6 million. The City Council
also approved issuing approximately $22.3 million of Special Obligation Revenue Refunding Bonds. This means
the City was able to refinance the City Center Special Assessment District Bonds with a principal buy-down of $7.3
million. The refinancing allowed the City to save an estimated $15.7 million in total debt service over the next 18
years, cutting out nearly $8.5 million in interest payments.
Staff continues to work with City Council to formulate strategic plans on additional debt retirement opportunities –
now and in the future.
Business-Type Activities
Governmental Activities
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018B
2019P
2020P
City’s Bond Rating Increases
The bond ratings the City receives from
the major rating agencies determine
the cost of borrowing. The better the
ratings, the less the City pays in interest
on future bond issues. In 2018, due to
sound management practices, Standard
and Poor’s increased the bond rating for
the utility debt from an A+ to a AA-. This
matches the City’s General Obligation
bond rating of AA-.
The City’s total debt has decreased about $257 million from its peak – about 24.7 percent - since 2010. The City’s
long-term debt has been reduced as a result of principal payments and refinancing, when appropriate; from a high
of more than $1.042 billion debt in FY 2009-10 to a projected $756 million for FY 2018-19 based upon budgeted
principal payments. This will represent nearly a 27.5 percent reduction in debt over the ten-year planning horizon.
CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
45