Funding Capital Projects with Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

January 17, 2020

Nobody has enough money to accomplish everything they need to do in their City! However, there are some pretty big tools available to all Cities, no matter what size. Join us while we teach you how the “big boys” get things done!

This one-day webinar will cover:

1. Daring to dream bigger
2. Understanding what TIF is and how it works
3. Establishing an Urban Renewal Plan
4. Financing Urban Renew Projects with GO Bonds, Revenue Bonds, TIF Debt, Developer Agreements and Internal Loans
5. Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI) Projects
6. Accounting for Urban Renewal Projects and TIF Revenue
7. TIF Reporting

Everyone who currently has an Urban Renewal Plan, Economic Development Plan or Capital Improvement Plan, or is considering any one of them in the future, is strongly encouraged to attend this webinar.

We will start at 9am cst and end when everything has been covered (probably around 3pm)

Cost

$125 per City

Iowa WET / Multiple Sales Tax Rates Per Invoice

May 22, May 29 or June 5, 2020

This topic has been the focus of many headaches over the last several months. The problem was that QuickBooks is not designed to handle multiple tax rates on one invoice. Therefore, we have had to change the process of how our invoices are created through the Utility Billing module. While we worked on the update, you unfortunately had to take some additional steps to get accurate numbers for paying the sales and excise taxes. Good news is that we have finally worked out all of the bugs in the system. We now have a streamlined process for tracking and reporting accurate numbers. Join us on this webinar as we walk through all the updates and how to use them.

This one-day webinar will cover:

1. Setting up Sales and Excise Tax Items
2. Assigning Proper Tax Items to Customers
3. Assigning Tax Items to Utility Billing Items
4. Re-designing our Invoices to Include the Additional Items
5. Understanding the Sales Tax Liability Report
6. Reporting Sales and Excise Taxes to the State
7. Entering Your Sales and Excise Tax Payments in QuickBooks
8. Balancing Your Sales Tax Liability on the Balance Sheet

Every City in Iowa is encouraged to attend, as well as Cities outside of Iowa that use more than one tax rate on any given invoice.

We are offering this one-day course as a webinar with 3 date options:

• Friday, May 22, 2020 or
• Friday, May 29, 2020 or
• Friday, June 5, 2020

We will start at 9am cst and end when everything has been covered (probably around 3pm)

Cost

$125 per City

ClerkBooks User Conference

June 18 – 19, 2020

We always learn something new during each install. We also attend our own continuing education classes every year. We apply some of our new knowledge to upgrades to the ClerkBooks system. The rest is taught during these two days. Come and network with other ClerkBooks users as we update you on the latest and greatest ClerkBooks tricks, tools & techniques.

This year will focus less on the basics and more on intermediate to advanced topics. All classes are being re-written! The second day will focus primarily on economic development and urban renewal. All content will be applicable to all cities in all states. The first day will only be for Clerks and Treasurers. However, we will hold a special evening session specifically for Mayors, Council Members and Departmental Leaders. The second day is for all City staff. Mayors, Council Members, Department Leaders, Clerks and Treasurers are all invited to attend. The cost is per City, so you can get as many people involved as possible!

This year will be held via interactive webinar only. There will not be an on-site option.

Tentative Agenda

Cost

Cost includes: registration and downloadable/printable materials

Budgeting with ClerkBooks

October 20 or 21 or 22,2020

This one-day course will focus on advanced budgeting techniques including:

1. Budgeting Principals
2. Creating memorized Budget Worksheet reports for each sub-fund
3. Adding a calculated proposed budget column
4. Adding a dashboard to project what-if scenarios
5. Getting Council buy-in (Making it their budget, not yours)
6. What to let the Council budget, what you should budget
7. Tying the budget to a Capital Improvements Plan (CIP)
8. Budget approval process
9. When to amend the budget
10. Entering the budget into QuickBooks
11. Monitoring the budget at every Council meeting

We are offering this one-day course as a webinar with 3 date options:

• Tuesday, October 20 or
• Wednesday, October 21 or
• Thursday, October 23

We will start each day at 9am cst and end when everything has been covered (probably around 3pm)

Cost

$125 per City

Council Training

Scheduled by Appointment

The City Council, or Board, is responsible for safeguarding the City’s assets. To do so, they must often times make tough decisions considering the limited resources they have. They must strive to use these limited resources in the most efficient way possible; to meet as many needs and wants as they can.

The City’s staff is responsible for carrying out actions according to the Council’s decisions. In turn, they must provide timely and accurate information about those actions. This information can assist the Council in making the next set of tough decisions.

Part of safeguarding the City’s assets is to prevent fraud. The Council and the Staff must work together as a Team to prevent fraud. When mistakes are made, each part of the team is there to help correct the mistake. The Council and Staff should have each other’s back.

This two hour webinar will expand on these principals and give the Council and Staff a framework for building team work. This webinar is live and tailored specifically for each City. We will use real reports with up-to-date information from your City as examples.

Class Length

Two Hours

Topics

Cost

Includes: Registration for Entire City, Downloadable Presentation, Sample Reports
$225.00

Capital Planning

Scheduled by Appointment

On a month by month basis, it is so easy to get tunnel vision. We tend to focus on “patching holes” and “putting out fires. Often this means the more expensive projects never get done. When an “emergency” forces a Council to complete a large project they have to borrow more than Cities who have a Capital Improvements Plan. This leaves serious infrastructure and debt issues to the next generation.

Every City, no matter how small or how big, should have a Capital Improvements Plan. Capital Planning involves both short and long term plans for everything from office computers to street repairs to sewer lagoons. However, a Capital Plan is worthless without a way to finance the projects. That is why we also talk about available financing options including: tax planning, budgeting, grant writing, TIF, loans and bonds.

Class Length

3 Hours

Topics

Cost

Includes: Registration for Entire City, Downloadable Presentation, Sample Plan
$350.00