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Basic Budget Preparation

Join Professor William C. Rivenbark at the School of Government for a conference on budget preparation in North Carolina. Learn about the budget process, sources of conflict, and improving budget requests.

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Basic Budget Preparation

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  1. Basic Budget Preparation Election Directors Conference December 2014 William C. Rivenbark Professor School of Government

  2. Objectives • Discuss selected law that governs budget preparation in North Carolina • Present performance and financial framework for contextualizing a budget request • Review three sources of conflict during budget deliberations • Exercise on improving budget requests in your organization

  3. Balanced budget ordinance • Each local government shall operate under an annual balanced budget ordinance, which is balanced when the sum of estimated net revenues and appropriated fund balance is equal to appropriations [G.S. 159-8(a)].

  4. Budget calendar • G.S. 159-10 - Departmental requests to budget officer before April 30 (includes budget requests and revenue estimates) • G.S. 159-11(b) - Budget and budget message submitted to governing board not later than June 1 • G.S. 159-13(a) - Budget ordinance adopted not later than July 1

  5. Budget officer • In counties having the manager form of government, the manager is the budget officer. In counties without the manager form of government, the governing board may impose the duties of budget officer on the county finance officer or any other employee except the sheriff, or in counties having a population of more than 7,500, the register of deeds (G.S. 159-9).

  6. Board of Commissioners • The board of commissioners has and shall exercise the responsibility of developing and directing the fiscal policy of the county government under the provisions and procedures of the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act (G.S. 153A-101).

  7. Preparation and submission of budget • Unless the governing board requests an unbalanced budget, the budget officer shall prepare and present, together with a budget message, a proposed balanced budget to the governing board no later than June 1 [G.S. 159-11(a)(b)].

  8. Budget message • The budget message should address: • Organizational goals • Important features of the budget • Major changes in fiscal policy • Changes from the previous year in program goals and appropriations levels [G.S. 159-11(b)].

  9. Filing and publication of the budget • On the same day that the proposed budget is submitted to the board, a copy is filed with the office of the clerk for public inspection [G.S. 159-12(a)]. • The clerk shall make a copy available to all news media and a statement is published (newspaper of general circulation) that the proposed budget has been submitted to the board, including the time and place of the public hearing [G.S. 159-12(a)].

  10. Adoption of budget ordinance • Before adopting the budget ordinance, the board shall hold a public hearing at which time any persons who wish to be heard on the budget may appear [G.S. 159-12(b)]. • Not earlier than 10 days after the day the budget is presented to the board and not later than July 1, the government board shall adopt a budget ordinance [G.S. 159-13(a)].

  11. Performance and financial framework • Mission: To plan, organize, conduct, and monitor all elections and to ensure that the citizens have the right to vote in fair and impartial elections • Goal: Improve customer service to provide effective service to all stakeholders • Objective: To maintain a customer satisfaction rate of 90 percent of higher • Outcome: Customer satisfaction rate of 95 percent • (Abbreviated information from Chatham County)

  12. Performance and financial framework

  13. Performance and financial framework • Major responsibilities • Register voters • Recruit and train poll workers • Maintain and audit campaign finance records • Code, test, and maintain voting records • Conduct voting and absentee voting for each election • Inform and educate the public • (Abbreviated information from Chatham County)

  14. Sources of conflict • Specialists are individuals who are extremely knowledgeable of the services being provided to the public • Generalists are individuals who often function in administrative positions for overall good of the organization

  15. Sources of conflict • Advocates are internal and external groups that are requesting resources to meet their often growing service demands • Conservers are individuals who must balance these requests against public welfare

  16. Sources of conflict • Some individuals are more comfortable with incremental changes from year-to-year • Other individuals are more open to cyclical changes

  17. Case • Brainstorm with the person sitting next to you on one strategy for improving budget requests in your organization.

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