2009 - City of Lakeland

Glossary of Terms
Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD): Responsible for water resources in sixteen
west central Florida counties: Charlotte, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake,
Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter.
Special Assessment: A compulsory levy made against certain properties to defray all or part of the cost of
a specific capital improvement or service deemed to benefit primarily those properties.
Target Budget: Desirable expenditure levels provided to departments to develop a recommended budget.
Based on the prior year’s adopted budget, excluding one-time expenditures, projected revenues and
reserve requirements.
Tax Base: The total property valuations on which each taxing agency levies its tax rates.
Tax Levy: The total amount of revenue raised from general property taxes.
Tax Rate: The amount of tax levied for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. Often called millage rate.
Taxes: Compulsory charges levied by a government for the purpose of financing services performed for
the common benefit of the people.
Transfer: A transfer is movement of money or assets from one fund to another that is not a payment for
service. Sometimes a transfer is one fund subsidizing another fund.
Unencumbered Balance: The amount of an appropriation that was not expended or encumbered and is
still available for future purposes.
User Fee: Revenue paid by a party directly benefiting from the use of receipt of a public service.
Utility Tax: A consumer tax levied by cities on the of utilities such as electricity, telephone or gas.
Did you know…
By the end of 1885, “Lakeland had a
popular resort hotel (the Tremont) and
housed 400 residents, a dozen shops, 3
hotels, an express office, 2 telegraph
offices, a newspaper, meat markets,
barber shops, shoemaker’s shop, laundry,
blacksmith shop, boarding houses,
bakeries, billiard rooms, etc.”.
G-12 Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Budget