In his “Coeur d’Alene, Inc.” post, Dan Gookin correctly pointed out that, “The of City of Coeur d’Alene is a government agency; it should not be run like a business.” 

That is not just Dan’s observation.   That is the position of the Governmental  Accounting Standards Board (GASB).  

The GASB is an independent, not-for-profit organization formed in 1984 that establishes and improves financial accounting and reporting standards for state and local governments.  

The GASB has written a white paper titled, “Why Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Is—and Should Be—Different”.  The entire white paper is only 34 pages, but the 3-page executive summary is a good starting point for citizens trying to better understand Coeur d’Alene’s financial dealings and documents.

In his linked post, Dan also mentioned Coeur d’Alene’s “fund balances.”  The GASB recognizes the importance of fund balances, so it regularly updates information about how governments classify fund balances.  In February 2008 the GASB released an “exposure draft” of more proposed changes.  

The GASB evidently recognizes that the language of finance and accounting is rather arcane, so it also made available a “plain language article” about fund balances.   Reading the plain language article will meet most people’s needs to better understand what the City of Coeur d’Alene is doing with fund balances.  For those with an accounting background, the exposure draft has more details.