FY 2010 Popular Annual Financial Report FY 2010 Popular Annual Financial Report | Page 7

Financial Look Back at 2010
opening your books to the public,” said Susan Combs, the Texas
Comptroller of Public Accounts. “By providing citizens with a
clear, consistent picture of spending and sharing information in
a user-friendly format, you are setting a strong example for other
governmental entities to follow.”
The program puts special emphasis upon online access to
information. The City of Arlington received the gold award because it
has posted its Annual Operating Budget, its Annual Business Plan, its
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, its Popular Annual Financial
Report, and its check register on-line. The City also publishes its
Quarterly Budget Analysis Report online.
In the Spring, the City issued its 2009 Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report, earning the Government Finance Officers
Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial
Reporting. The City also distributed the continuing disclosure report
required by the Securities Exchange Commission. The City received a
“clean opinion” from its external auditor, Deloitte, for the fiscal year
ending September 2009.

2010. Of the total, $29,415,000 of General Obligation (GO) debt and
$8,930,000 of Certificates of Obligation (CO) debt, were actually
sold in September 2009 for FY 2009 capital projects. However, the
proceeds were received in FY 2010. The remaining $34,480,000 of
GO, $5,755,000 of CO, and $31,125,000 of Water Utility revenue
bonds were issued in the summer of 2010. The new issuances were
used for both project funds and to refund $12,245,000 in GO longterm debt, $4,800,000 in commercial paper debt and $11,415,000
in water revenue bonds. As the City issues it debt at level principal,
we paid down a total of $40,965,000 in principal. This included
$25,745,000 in GO debt, , $9,990,000 in Water and $5,230,000 in
Cowboy Stadium Debt. As of September 30, 2010, the City had a
total of $749,860,000 in outstanding GO, Water and Stadium debt.

Confirmation of Effective Strategies
In July 2010, when Arlington decided to sell the $35 M
in General Obligation Bonds and Certificates of Obligation, we
approached the rating agencies for our credit worthiness. Given
the economy and the recent downturn in property values, some
municipalities have struggled to get the rating agencies to affirm their
ratings. However, because of Arlington’s long history of proactive,
conservative financial decision-making, the City was able to maintain
its ratings with Moody’s at Aa1, S&P at AA+ and Fitch at AA+.
While Fitch mentioned the decline in City revenues and the
effects of the downturn on the local economy, they stated that
“Arlington has managed to retain sizable operating reserves despite
recessionary pressures, due to prudent budgeting practices and
timely expenditure reductions.”
Standard and Poor’s said the stable outlook for Arlington reflects
their expectation that “the city should continue to sustain its sound
financial position and maintain manageable debt levels. In our
opinion, the city’s strong financial policies should serve to shield it
from potential revenue volatility.”
The City of Arlington received proceeds of $109,705,000 in FY

Conclusion
FY 2010 was a challenging year for the City of Arlington, as was
the case for all levels of government throughout the nation. With
strong policy leadership, effective management and productive and
creative employees, we met the challenges we faced while continuing
to consider the possibilities and seize opportunities that will help
the City in the long-term. The result of our efforts continues to allow
us to successfully navigate these challenging economic times while
continuing to deliver priority services to the citizens of Arlington.

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“Meeting the Challenge”