Complete Document - City of Auburn

City of Auburnthe City Manager in April. Departmental goalsare based on carrying out the priorities that theCity Council set in March. The department headspresent their departments’ goals to the CityCouncil during budget hearings. Departmentalgoals are an integral part of the budget processand serve to focus the activities of thedepartments throughout the year. The CityCouncil is given quarterly written updates on thestatus of these goals. (All departmental goals forFY03 & FY 04 are provided in Section 4 of thisdocument.)Upon receipt of the departmentalbudgetary requests including requested capitalequipment and projects, the City Managerdevelops a balanced budget and presents it tothe City Council in June in the form of aproposed budget. The City Manager’s proposedbudget also addresses the Council’s goal ofmaintaining a projected ending fund balance inthe General Fund of at least 6% of budgetedexpenditures. The proposed budget documentidentifies the key decisions to be addressed bythe Council.The Council holds budget hearings withall department heads and makes the keydecisions. A public hearing is advertised andheld during a regular City Council meeting priorto adopting the budget in July. State lawrequires that the budget be approved not laterthan the first regular Council meeting eachOctober. The expenditures authorized by thebudget ordinance are detailed by fund and,within the General Fund, by departments anddivisions.The City Council and City Managermonitor revenues and expenditures on amonthly basis during the fiscal year and reviewprogress on departmental goals at the end ofeach calendar quarter. The City Manager holdsdepartment heads accountable for theirdepartments’ overall budgetary performance.For departments whose expenditures are overDescription of the Budgetary Systembudget in a given fiscal year, encumbrances(outstanding purchase orders) at fiscal yearendmust be funded from the subsequentyear’s budget. For departments whoseexpenditures are under budget in a given year,the City Manager recommends to the CityCouncil at the following year’s Mid BienniumBudget Review that the amount of the prioryear’s outstanding encumbrances be added tothe current year’s approved budget.The City Council adjusts the budget inMay, if necessary, following the Mid YearReview, to reflect changing conditions. For theMid Year Review, the Finance Director reviewsrevenues and revises projections asappropriate.!" If the revenue projections, as revised,appear adequate to fund the originallybudgeted expenditures, no changes aremade.!" If the revised revenue projectionsreflect that resources will not beadequate to cover the budgetedexpenditures, department heads aredirected to make across the boardpercentage reductions from the originalbudgeted amounts.!" If the revenue revisions reflect asignificantly greater amount ofresources than originally budgeted, theCity Manager considers whether topropose using those projectedadditional resources to financeadditional projects or provide additionalservices.After the City Manager’s review of thebudget status at mid-year, he may submit aproposed budget adjustment to the Council. Ifthe Council approves the proposedadjustments, an amending ordinance isadopted. The amending ordinance details44