Performance Audit R2.2 recommends 5-year forecasting

This sounds an awful lot like what Councilman Moore and Mayor Williams, no fans of the Auditor of State and their performance audit, said during the 8/8/06 council meeting a $25 per hour budget analyst would do:

"The City Council, along with elected officials, should require the development and implementation of a five-year financial forecast that would project future revenues and expenditures and enable Norwood to identify financial trends as it considers the future consequences of current decisions. The forecast should be a dynamic document, revised periodically, as Norwood's economic environment changes and more relevant data becomes available. Effective use of long term forecasting will better enable the City to plan for the future, and anticipate the costs of programs and services for its citizens."


So, it appears this is one recommendation the City is taking seriously, and perhaps that is very wise, since Treasurer Molony's 5-year forecast before the 2004 14 mill levy vote was so hopelessly off the mark. According to his document, this is the year we're supposed to be $10.2 million in the hole. Instead, the reported 2006 deficit is a whopping $7.4 million less at just $2.8 million. That means that had the 14 mill levy passed, which would have generated $5.2 million per year starting last year, the city would have a surplus of $7.6 million this year!