Final answer:
To record the use of electricity by the General Fund from a city-owned utility (enterprise fund), a general journal entry would debit the utilities expense and credit the inter-fund transactions payable account, reflecting the expense and payable obligation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The General Fund used electricity provided by the city-owned electric utility (an enterprise fund of the city). The General Fund general journal entry to record the transaction will include a debit to the utilities expense account and a credit to the inter-fund transactions payable account (or a similarly named liability account). This entry reflects the cost of electricity that the General Fund must recognize as an expense, while also recording the obligation to pay the enterprise fund for the services rendered.
In governmental accounting, transactions between the General Fund and enterprise funds are treated as internal transactions, and they must be recorded in a way that properly reflects the interfund activities. Enterprise funds operate like private businesses and the electricity provided by the utility would have a corresponding entry that credits revenue and debits a receivable from the General Fund.