Complete Document - City of Auburn

City of AuburnRevenue OverviewFY 03 & 04 Biennial BudgetRevenue projections form the foundation of the budget. The Council considers the CityManager’s budget proposal in the context of the following revenue policies:• New or increased taxes or fees will be enacted in response to citizen approved referendaor to finance increased costs to provide citizen-desired services after all cost containmentinnovations have been exhausted.• Fees for City services or fines and court costs will be set at amounts consistent withState requirements and at rates that are intended to promote positive citizen behaviors.• Idle funds will be invested as permitted by State law in a manner that will “provide thehighest investment return with the maximum security while meeting the City’s daily cashflow demands” as provided by the City’s Investment Policy.• Adequate revenue must be produced to finance all operating costs for providing Cityservices. Borrowed funds will be used only to finance capital acquisitions andconstruction costs.• Projected revenues and borrowing coupled with the projected fund balance at thebeginning of the new fiscal year must provide for a projected ending fund balance of atleast 6% of the budgeted expenditures.The City Manager proposes a revenue budget that is consistent with revenue and debtpolicy. The proposed revenues must finance a balanced budget while meeting the Council’sending fund balance goals. The Finance Director develops revenue projections based onhistorical revenue data as well as input from the Finance staff and the department heads ofthose departments that generate revenue. Then, the projections are reviewed and approvedby the City Manager and incorporated into the proposed budget.The Finance Department’s Revenue Office maintains at least ten years’ history on all majorand many of the less significant revenue sources of the City’s funds. Initial revenueprojections are formulated in the following manner:1. A projection is made extrapolating from the ten-year trend data.2. A projection is made assuming that the change for the year to be budgeted will bethe same as the current year’s change over the prior year.3. Socio-economic factors affecting specific revenue sources are identified. Thesefactors include—• relevant new national, state and city statutes, changes in those statutesand recent court decisions,• national and regional economic trends as reported in national and statemedia,• residential and commercial building permit data from the City’s CodesEnforcement Office,54