Another fiscal year, another glowing audit report full of praise and compliments for Oxford Township.

“I do have a very good report for you this evening,” said Rana Emmons, a partner in the Plymouth-based PSLZ LLP Certified Public Accountants.

Last week, Emmons presented the township board with the audit report for the 2017 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31.

“You do have an unmodified opinion, which is the highest  level (of) audit opinion possible, meaning no exceptions, no disclaimers, nothing bad to report in it,” she said. “That is the usual township audit.”

Fund balances
All of the township’s governmental funds combined reported a total of $9.2 million in fund balances as of Dec. 31, of which approximately 19 percent ($1.78 million) is unrestricted fund balance – money that’s available for spending at the government’s discretion, according to the report.

“The remainder of (the) fund balance is restricted to indicate that it is not available for new spending because it has already been committed to uphold contracts or bond agreements,” the report stated.

Oxford Township began the 2017 fiscal year with a fund balance of $2.42 million in its general fund – the municipality’s chief operating fund – and ended with a fund balance of $1.498 million.

It decreased because a total of $923,028 was spent on things such as resurfacing approximately 2,600 feet of Pontiac Rd. from W. Drahner Rd. to the village limits, paying an additional $200,000 to the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS) to help satisfy pension obligations and settling the lawsuit concerning the Elk View Estates subdivision.

The fund balances for the police and fire budgets increased by $349,456 and $224,940, respectively. As of Dec. 31, they totalled a little more than $1 million for police and $1.31 million for fire.

Another $62,267 was added to the Oxford Public Library’s fund balance, bringing it up to $1.335 million as of Dec. 31.

The Oxford Township Parks and Recreation Department’s fund balance decreased by $60,429 last year, from $304,211 to $243,782.

Property taxes
The township’s various millages collected a total of $7.78 million in property tax revenue, according to the audit report.

“We’ve been seeing about a 2 percent increase the last couple years,” Emmons said. “But this year, we didn’t actually go up. We’ve pretty much stayed the same.”

“We do have a lot of development going on, so I think you’re probably going to see that start to creep up a little bit, hopefully,” she added.

Treasurer Joe Ferrari noted property tax revenues were impacted by the fact that the state is still in the process of phasing out the personal property tax (PPT).

Emmons indicated the state has been trying to reimburse local governments for lost PPT revenue, particularly when it comes to “essential services” such as public safety millages, but it’s far from an exact science.

“They have these intricate formulas and all these forms that (Ferrari) has to file . . . The state is even having a hard time getting their arms around their own formula,” Emmons said.

“They’re trying. It’s been a decent amount of money that they’ve been distributing. (But) we can’t count on it. (It) really (varies) dollar-wise. They can’t even estimate it for us,” she noted.

The reimbursement that the township is receiving is being equitably distributed and the credit for this goes to Ferrari, according to Emmons. She explained that when the state sends money to Oxford, it’s “in one lump sum” and “there’s no detail behind it.”

“(In) many communities, it just goes to the general fund and they call it a day,” she said.

Not in Oxford.

She told the board that Ferrari “takes the time to properly allocate that (money) to all the millage funds to make sure that they’re (each) getting their reimbursement.”

“He makes sure everybody gets their fair share,” Emmons said.

Last year, the township received a total of $145,219 in reimbursement, or Local Community Stabilization Authority (LCSA) Act revenues. This was for 2017 and adjustments to 2016 calculations.

Of this, $51,176 went to the library, $31,252 to parks/rec., $34,905 to the township’s general fund, $27,287 to police and $599 to the parks bond debt, according to Ferrari.

The fire budget received no LCSA funds as the state contends it’s not entitled to them because its former millages, which totalled 2.5 mills for fire/EMS and ALS services, expired with the December 2014 tax collection. The township disagrees and believes the fire fund is entitled to LCSA funds because those two former millages were replaced with a combined millage, collected since December 2015, that “technically renewed” the 2.5 mills and added 1 mill, according to Ferrari.

State shared revenue
According to the audit report, the township received approximately $1.5 million in state shared revenue last year, which represented an 8 percent increase.

“The state collects sales and income tax and they distribute it to the local units. And they’ve been a little more generous than usual,” Emmons said. “We haven’t seen an 8 percent increase in a long, long time. They’re not promising that will continue, but we will take that for the time being.”

Big savings
Emmons praised the township board’s decision last year to prepay in full a special assessment imposed by the Clinton River Water Resource Recovery Facility Drainage District to help fund improvements to two wastewater treatment facilities in Pontiac.

Officials chose to pay approximately $760,000 up front in order to avoid an estimated $231,000 in interest spread over 20 years.

“We saved a lot of money in interest,” said township Supervisor Bill Dunn.

“That was definitely a good move and residents should thank you for that one,” Emmons said. “You would have been paying for years on that.”

Investment earnings
Even though the township spent a great deal last year, it still did well when it came to the earnings from its investments.

According to Ferrari, the township last year earned $188,000 in interest from the $14.5 million in cash it had from all funds. That was more than the $126,000 in interest it made off its $17 million in cash from the previous year.

Emmons gave Ferrari “a pat on the back” for continuing to be successful in this area despite having to work with “a lot less cash.”

“Another good year there, Joe,” she said. She noted that when it comes to the investments, Ferrari is “very conservative.”

“He’s very careful about what he’s investing in, who he’s investing in and still trying to maximize the return for the township,” Emmons explained.

Kudos to the staff
Emmons was very complimentary of the staff at both the township office and fire department for the important role they played in the audit process. “This job doesn’t get done without everyone’s help,” she said.

Staff members make Emmons’ work easier by consistently and quickly providing any and all information she needs to conduct the audit.

“I ask for it and they deliver it to me. I rarely wait for any information,” she said.

Emmons was impressed with the staff’s knowledge and willingness to improve.

“They all know their job and then some . . . Your staff always asks for recommendations on how to do something better,” she said.

Dunn echoed those sentiments.

“This board can’t do (anything) without the people that actually do the work in the office and supply the numbers when needed,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is highlight them and thank them.”