Simplifying town financial reports

Councilman Will Faust ran on a platform of clearing up the town of Saratoga financial reports for its citizens.

At a recent town council meeting Faust could be heard discussing his ideas on how to present public reports of town finances with Town Clerk Suzie Cox.

In an interview with the Saratoga Sun Faust said financial transparency is “paramount to anybody dealing with public funds.” He said he wants anybody to be able to read through the town audit and have a rough overview of the town finances.

Faust cites the fact that many public companies have a Schedule K-1 report that presents a one-page summary of financial information. He notes they have been talking about how to work within the town accounting software to prepare a one-page report that represents income and expenditures,

Faust said he would like to see a consolidated income and expenditure report, and a cash flow summary that the citizens can understand.

“When you hand somebody 15 pages of financial information, there is a lot of numbers there and you really have to spend time digging into that,” Faust said. He also said that Cox has presented him an audit of town finances that already has a consolidated synopsis of income, expenditures and cash flow.

According to Faust there is a range from a “10-foot view to a 30,000-foot view” of finances and he hopes the town can achieve a level that is clear yet doesn’t lead to misinterpretation of town funds and their usage.