Office of the Budget Director FY15 Common Budget Questions

1. Office of the Budget Director FY15 Common Budget Questions

2. Introduction To assist the Council in reviewing, analyzing, and preparing the budget each fiscal year, the Office of the Budget Director requests that each District agency answer a set of questions. These questions ensure that the Council has the same set of critical information from each agency necessary for completing its work on the annual budget. • Attachment I – Spending Plan: Agencies submit a spending plan laying out how the agency intends to spend their total budget request over the course of the fiscal year. • Attachment II – Contracts: Agencies enter into contracts with vendors, providers, and companies to provide particular supports or services. • Attachment III – Intra-District Transfers: Intra-District funds track payments for services provided by one District agency to another District agency. The buying agency spends its own budget from local, federal, special purpose, or private grant funds. The receiving agency records this expenditure as intra-district funds. • Attachment IV – Federal Grants: Grants the District receives from federal agencies, including block grants, formula grants, certain entitlements, and competitive grants. • Schedule A – Position Listing: Agencies are required to provide the Council a listing of all positions (FTEs). Agencies are asked to include, for every position, the title, status (vacant or filled), salary costs, fringe benefit costs, and status (continuing, temporary, term). *NOTE* - All charts in the following pages are examples. The numbers contained within the images DO NOT represent agency responses for the Mayor’s proposed FY15 budget.

3. Attachment I – Spending Plan Quarters – the District’s fiscal year is broken down into four quarters. Depending upon the supply being bought or the service being provided, spending may be concentrated in a particular quarter or spread evenly across the fiscal year. Personnel vs. Non-Personnel Services– Agencies spend their approved budgets on two major categories – personal services, or employees, and non-personal services such as grants, contracts, rent, electricity, etc. Program Name – Agencies are divided into different divisions, which are known as Programs for budgeting purposes. In this example, the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, TB Administration (HAHSTA) is a program within the Department of Health. CSG – Budgets are divided into Comptroller Source Groups or CSG. These separate out the different types of items on which funding is spent. For example, money spent in CSG 11 is for regular pay for employees (salary) while CSG 14 is money used to pay for benefits like health insurance premiums. CSG – Each agency was asked to specify, within each Comptroller Source Group (CSG) exactly which programs, services, supplies, etc. their budget would be spent on. For HAHSTA, CSG 20 – Supplies and Materials included items such as Office Supplies ($42,660 in Q1, $10,665 in Q2, etc.) and Youth condoms.

4. Attachment II - Contracts Contract Term Begin/End – The dates which the contract begins and ends is the length of time for which services will be provided. Contract Amount– Represents the total amount awarded to the Vendor for the term of the contract. Vendor Name – Every contract is awarded to a particular entity, group, company, etc. Funding Source – Lists the source of funding for each contract. Funding may be local, federal, private, or special purpose revenue. Contract Purpose – Every contract goes to a particular vendor for a particular service or set of services. Agencies provide an explanation for each contract of the services provided. Option Year – Contracts may be awarded for up to 12 months (known as a base year) with the option for an extension pending positive performance results. Additional years that may be added are written as part of the original contract. The District and vendor may choose to exercise these Option Years to continue providing services under the contract Competitive or Sole Source – To win a contract, a vendor must respond to request from the agency. A request can be competitive, where different groups submit their proposals and one is chosen. A request can be sole source, where the District pre-emptively decides the vendor based on experience and the service provided.

5. Attachment III - Intra-District Transfers Intra-District funds track payments for services provided by one District agency to another District agency. The buying agency spends its own budget from local, federal, special purpose, or private grant funds. The receiving agency records this expenditure as intra-district funds. Sending Agency – Section A of this attachment are intra-district transfers that were received by the Department. The Sending Agency indicates which District agency paid the Department for a particular service. For example, the Department of Health Care Finance paid the OAG to maintain vital records. Service – Intra-district transfers allow one agency to pay another, and vice versa, for a particular program or service. This column indicates which service the agency received, or paid for, with the funding. Amount – Indicates how much was sent to an agency, or received by the agency, for the entirety of the fiscal year. Receiving Agency – Section B includes expenditures by the agency for a service provided by another District agency, in other words where the agency is the buying agency. The Receiving Agency is the agency the Department paid for a particular service or who received the intra-district funds. For example, the Department of Health sent funds to the OCFO to support the completion of the Single State Audit. Account Code – Funds are placed in a District’s budget based on the agency and program. This section indicates where in Department’s budget, the funds that are being sent OUT of the agency are budgeted.

6. Attachment IV - Federal Grants Grant Name – The official name of the grant awarded to the agency. Federal Agency - New/Ongoing – A federal grant is awarded by a particular federal agency. A grant may be awarded for the first time this fiscal year, a new grant. Or, a grant may cross multiple fiscal years and be ongoing. Purpose – Federal grants are awarded to a District agency for a specific purpose such as SNAP benefits, maternal and child health, or transportation funding. Estimated Balance – Agencies may have a been awarded a grant that crosses fiscal years. They may also request that unspent funds be allowed to “carryover” into the following fiscal year. This column indicates how much, if any, funds will be available from the FY14 grant in FY15. Estimated FY15 Award – The amount the agency anticipates will be awarded to be spent in FY15. *Federal Payments* - These are direct appropriations from the Congress, usually to a particular District agency for a particular purpose. Specific federal payments are included in an additional tab in the attachment.