City of Rush City updates financial software

The audited financial statements for the city of Rush City were presented by Paul Burkhardt with Burkhardt and Burkhardt during the City Council meeting June 24.

Each year, the financial position of the city is audited by an outside firm. The report presented during the council meeting was for the year ending Dec. 31, 2023. The report stated that the city holds “capital assets, less depreciation, totaling $23,522,666; representing a broad base of city-wide infrastructure.” The amount “includes land, buildings, improvements, machinery and equipment and infrastructure.”

The report also makes several recommendations including how the city handles financial transactions.

“To enhance the accuracy and efficiency of your financial processes, it is imperative that the city adopts Banyon (Data Systems Financial Software) for monthly bank reconciliations. Utilizing Banyon will significantly reduce the risk of errors, which if left unchecked, can be difficult and time-consuming to identify and resolve,” the report stated.

Previously the city had balanced its financials against a spreadsheet, but started using Banyon in 2024.

Another recommendation revolved around policies: “Many policies for the city are very old or non-existent and need to be updated and/or created. The policies affected are as follows: personnel policy, investment policy, capital assets policy, fund balance policy, revenue recognition policy, and disbursement/EFT policy.”

The report also noted it was imperative that the city, which rents its current location from the school district, keeps up to date on their lease agreement and does not let it lapse.

Sheriff’s contract

The Chisago County Sheriff’s Department is contracted by Rush City for police services and rents an office at City Hall. The sheriff’s department presented its contract rate to the city.

The cost includes the personnel portion plus vehicle cost and other fees. The fee for two full-time deputies and one full time sergeant is a combined rate of $79.42 per hour. The deputy rate is $74.46 per hour and the sergeant rate $89.34 per hour. This is an increase of 7.6% for the deputies from last year, an 8% increase for sergeants and a combined increase of 7.8%.