Budget Manual 2020

Budget Manual

A. Operating Budget Instructions The following definitions and instructions are for departments to use in completing their budget requests for an upcoming fiscal year and maintaining their existing budgets. Below are some budget basics, followed by additional details about the operating budget. Budget Basics • The City budgetmust be balanced:estimate drevenues = estimated expenses. • Budgets arecreated fortwo fiscal years. Thefiscal year runs July 1 through June30. The Year 1 budget will be approvedby City Council and the Year 2budget will serve as a recomme ndation for the subsequent fiscalyear. • In Questica, the Year 2 budget will becomethe base budget for thenextFY. • There are 3 stages in Questica for the budget process: Department Request, Manager Recommended, and Final Budget. • Departmental Budget Reps are responsible for entering in the Department Requested Budget (Revenues and Expenses) for Years 1 and 2, as well as the Current Year Estimates. Subsequent changes will be made by the Budget and Management Analyst assigned to the department. • Each departmen t willbe assigneda "Target" forexpenses. • OnlyMaintenance and Operations (M&O) expenses and selected salaryexpenses (i.e. roster salaries, overtime salar ies)can be revisedby departments. • Internal departmen ts charge fees for services including :desktopservices and technology, vehicles and equipment,mail, graphic services,insurance. • A Service Enhancementrequest is required if adepartmentrequires additional funds for programs, personne l,or other expenses beyond what can be accommodated within the departmental budget target. • Service Enhancementrequests areentered in Questicaper the budget calendar and are reviewedby the CMOand scored byBudget and Evaluation staff for conside ration inthe budget. • Capital expenses are generally for items costing $5,000 or more and which havea useful life of 1 year or more. • Budget Reps enternew capital requests into Questica using theCapital Request module.

Operating Budget Instructions A-1