City Budget Process
... requests. In February, departments submit mandates to the Budget office for the financial forecasts and then later in the month the departments submit their five-year forecast revenue estimates. The budget manual is then distributed to each department. It contains blank forms along with instructions on how to use them for the departments to use and a list of definitions and a chart of accounts. The budget manual also includes a calendar describing the budget preparation schedule and a breakdown of all the funds and the departments. The budget staff will then conduct a budget development briefing for departments. Budget guidelines will be developed for departments to use in preparing their requests. These budget guidelines are policy statements or priorities that the Mayor & Council might set for the current budget term. The Mayor & Council establish a list of priorities that are then ranked to show the importance given to each issue during the Fiscal Year 2004-2005. There purpose is to provide departments with a sense of the budgetary environment for the fiscal year. This policy making phase includes soliciting guidance on goals from the public and public interest groups. The information obtained helps to frame the budget proposal. Also, the Bottom Line Strengthening (BLS) Workshops will be occurring, which allows employees from across the organization to help find efficiencies within the delivery of city services. The City Manger may obtain ideas from City employees through this process. The BLS Program is an important part of the budget process because it allows City employees the opportunity to identify possible revenue generators and service delivery improvements. These recommendations may later be presented to the City Council and included in the Proposed Budget. By April, departments must submit their individual revenues and expenditures estimated for the current fiscal year to the proper budget analyst for review. The Budget office will then update each department’s goals and objectives along with their balance scorecards, which helps to translate an organization’s mission and strategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provide the framework for a strategic measurement and management system. In May, the Budget office will have their first of two Budget Open House Sessions in which citizens may come in and preview the budget process and voice their opinions to the Council to promote their individual policy issues. The Council can then take these testimonies into account when making their final decisions on the budget. They may also revise their Council priorities to better fit the needs of the public. Next, the five year financial forecast is presented to the City Council, which is an estimate of each department’s and the City’s financial status in the future. The Management Team and I will then meet w...