What
you might want to know about setting up the budget.
To gain a grasp of “the
budget process” it helps to know that the Executive and Council works with a
view, or mental model, of the budget that contains the five sections:
·
Narratives
·
Expenditures
·
Revenues
·
Decision Packages
·
Budget Reductions
This structure resides in
an on-line database called Budget Development Tool (BDT) that our office works
with to create the budget that the Executive and Council revises, reviews, and
eventually, passes. If you have
sufficient privilege you should be able to [click here] and
open the database and take a look at what is there. Be careful if you can get
to it the data is live!
Within BDT the above five
sections are grouped to make creation and maintenance easy, and hopefully,
logical. An organizing principle of BDT
is that we have departments (and divisions) with programs and that each
“department/division” combo contains ‘programs’. For example our department has 12 programs:
|
DivName |
ProgName |
|
Prosecuting Attorney |
Administration |
|
Prosecuting Attorney |
Criminal |
|
Prosecuting Attorney |
Civil |
|
Prosecuting Attorney -
Pre-Pros Div |
Pre-Prosecution
Diversion |
|
Prosecuting Attorney -
Victim/Witness |
Crime Victim Services |
|
Stop Grant |
Criminal |
|
Prosecuting Attorney -
Family Support |
Civil |
|
Drug Prosecution Grant |
Criminal |
|
Prosecuting Attorney |
JAIBG Legal |
|
Prosecuting Attorney -
Victim/Witness |
Crime Victim Services |
|
Prosecuting
Attorney/Antiprofiteering |
Criminal |
|
Tort Liability |
Civil |
Each department in the
budget contains a “Narrative” section, which describes the department’s Mission
Statement, Legislative
Authority, Org Chart, Services
Provided, Budget
Drivers, Major
Projects, and Budget Changes. This
is the place you get to describe the department, how it’s structured, the
programs and services provided, what drives the programs in the department, any
major projects the department is undertaking and the changes expected to
occur. The BDT tool has a ‘button’ that
gives you a dialog that lets you update these, but for sake of convenience, a
copy of each has been moved into a special
folder (S:\Admin\Budget\2004\DeptNarratives)
where you can click on the links (the blue underlined text) to quickly go there
to view and edit the narratives. Please take the time to review these to make
certain they reflect the current situation. These narratives will be moved into
the BDT database by Jim Rucci as the budget develops.
Given the assumption that
dollars are provided to fund ‘Programs’, each program is expected to have a
description and fiscal detail. In
addition, for a given budget year a program can also have a description
(narrative) of Possible Program Changes and Budget and Staffing Changes. In the
S:\Admin\Budget\2004\ProgramNarratives
folder you will find the program descriptions for:
Adminstration
Program Description.doc
Antiprofiteering
Revolving Fund Program Description.doc
Criminal
Program Description.doc
Diversion
Program Description.doc
Drug
Grant Program Description.doc
Family
Support Program Description.doc
Permanent
Transfer Out Program Description.doc
STOP
Grant Program Description.doc
Tort
Unit Program Description.doc
Victim
Witness Program Description.doc
VOCA
Grant Program Description.doc
Again, the BDT tool has a
‘button’ that gives you a dialog that lets you update these, but for sake of
convenience, a copy has been moved into a special
folder (S:\Admin\Budget\2004\ProgramNarratives)
you can click on the above links to quickly go there to view and edit
the narratives. Again, as the budget develops Jim Rucci will move the
narratives into the BDT database. Please
take the time to look at your programs and make the appropriate improvements to
these narratives. These are the descriptions that we use to describe to the Executive,
Council and therefore the public as part of justifying what we do with the
money we are given for these programs.
Following the
‘Narratives’ are the Expenditure
then Revenues
for each program. This is also known as
the ‘Status Quo’ budget and essentially should be the same as (or real close
to) the previous year’s expenditures.
This is the place where you can consider making small adjustments in the
requests for expenditures or update the projection of revenues for existing
programs. Given that we have fairly large latitude to move dollars between
categories in the status quo budget items, there is a tendency to do after the
fact moving during the year and then “fix it” the following year if it
represents a ‘true change’. Expenditure
and Revenues
reports can be found in the (S:\Admin\Budget\2004\BudgetDetail)
folder. Reports are sorted numerically by fund number then numerically by
program number.
The fund number and names
are:
|
Fund |
FundName |
|
002 |
General Fund |
|
118 |
Crime Victims/Witness |
|
130 |
Grant Control |
|
195 |
Antiprofiteering
Revolving |
|
506 |
Snohomish |
What is important for
this year’s budget effort is the request to reduce general fund expenditures by
6%. So in the above Expenditure report all those pages that show ‘General Fund’
will be where we need to propose a 6% reduction. The proposal will be accompanied with an
impact on service. This is where you
will work with Jim to get the numbers and impacts quantified so we can present
to Executive and Council. Things like
number of DV or NV cases or flow times through the system so that changes can
be quantified should attorney reductions be made.
The Program Numbers and Names are:
|
Prog |
ProgName |
|
330 |
Pre-Prosecution Diversion |
|
510 |
Administration |
|
521 |
Criminal |
|
522 |
Civil |
|
570 |
Crime Victim Services |
|
700 |
10* Permanent Transfer Ou |
|
736 |
JAIBG Legal |
Our department keeps a
shadow accounting of the above budget information and we can use it to see the
overall budget at a glance. A
Budget Spreadsheet of this information can be found in S:\Admin\Budget\2004\.
The main table summarizing the budget is presented below. As an example, for
2003 Criminal and Civil’s combine ‘general fund’ expenditures was $10.1
million. Criminal had $6.8 million in
salary and benefits of its $7.9 million and Civil $1.9 million of its $2.2
million. Assuming a 6% reduction proposal for the $10.1 results in an expected
combined $610,000 reduction proposal from Civil and Criminal. To help you along in looking at salary impacts
Jim and Kathy have prepared a spreadsheet of employee
salary information. You can play with the numbers by opening the
spreadsheet and saving it to your hard drive and making changes to see the
results.
|
OBJ |
DESCRIPTION |
ADMIN |
CRIMNL |
CIVIL |
TORT |
FAM SUP |
DIVERSN |
VICT WIT |
TOTAL |
|
0002 |
Ending Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
|
|
40,532 |
40,532 |
|
1001 |
PA Car Allowance |
5,604 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5,604 |
|
1011 |
Regular Salaries |
363,588 |
5,590,281 |
1,571,827 |
747,712 |
1,682,078 |
174,780 |
204,576 |
10,334,842
|
|
1012 |
Overtime |
|
|
|
|
500 |
|
|
500 |
|
1100 |
Salary Step Contingency |
|
108,616 |
15,400 |
6,600 |
23,110 |
|
|
153,726 |
|
1104 |
COLA Salary Contingency |
6,842 |
32,492 |
9,431 |
26,917 |
60,554 |
1,049 |
8,387 |
145,672 |
|
1106 |
Drug Grant Salary Subsidy |
|
40,536 |
|
|
|
|
|
40,536 |
|
1107 |
STOP Grant Salary Subsidy |
|
25,896 |
|
|
|
|
|
25,896 |
|
1500 |
Extra Help |
1,543 |
9,700 |
3,420 |
700 |
|
|
|
15,363 |
|
2013 |
Personnel Benefits |
71,381 |
1,200,845 |
324,751 |
146,963 |
415,131 |
47,820 |
48,753 |
2,255,644 |
|
2016 |
Grant Subsidy Benefits |
|
13,363 |
|
|
|
|
|
13,363 |
|
2200 |
Unemployment Comp |
20,114 |
|
|
936 |
147 |
7,374 |
1,735 |
30,306 |
|
2201 |
Workers Comp |
3,108 |
4 |
|
15 |
15 |
12 |
15 |
3,169 |
|
2204 |
COLA Benefit Contingency |
1,399 |
15,081 |
2,825 |
3,422 |
8,416 |
105 |
839 |
32,087 |
|
3101 |
Office Supplies |
2,060 |
84,270 |
21,523 |
9,224 |
20,000 |
800 |
1,236 |
139,113 |
|
3106 |
Books, Publications |
1,000 |
24,000 |
12,320 |
5,280 |
5,500 |
100 |
300 |
48,500 |
|
4101 |
Professional Services |
|
5,000 |
4,700 |
2,015 |
48,500 |
100 |
|
60,315 |
|
4106 |
Attorney Fees |
|
1,425 |
|
|
|
|
|
1,425 |
|
4115 |
CAD/RMS Charges |
|
7,550 |
|
|
658 |
|
|
8,208 |
|
4126 |
Legal Research |
|
1,730 |
3,780 |
1,620 |
|
|
|
7,130 |
|
4139 |
Training |
2,375 |
9,405 |
4,948 |
2,120 |
3,500 |
450 |
500 |
23,298 |
|
4140 |
Transcriptions |
|
12,000 |
1,303 |
559 |
100 |
|
|
13,962 |
|
4303 |
Mileage, Fares |
782 |
13,040 |
3,339 |
1,431 |
3,000 |
100 |
1,020 |
22,712 |
|
4304 |
Meals |
180 |
450 |
267 |
114 |
1,000 |
|
121 |
2,132 |
|
4305 |
Lodging |
367 |
450 |
233 |
100 |
1,500 |
|
250 |
2,900 |
|
4501 |
Rentals |
|
46,040 |
11,550 |
4,950 |
24,700 |
1,100 |
1,100 |
89,440 |
|
4504 |
Space Rental - Outside |
|
179,046 |
115,479 |
49,490 |
140,888 |
|
|
484,903 |
|
4801 |
Repairs & Maintenance |
650 |
1,800 |
3,500 |
1,500 |
2,500 |
100 |
200 |
10,250 |
|
4901 |
Miscellaneous |
225 |
(29,550) |
261 |
112 |
400 |
50 |
250 |
(28,252) |
|
4912 |
Court Costs- Non Expert Witness |
49,906 |
|
|
|
|
|
49,906 |
|
|
4921 |
Expert Witness |
|
42,000 |
200 |
|
1,600 |
|
|
43,800 |
|
4934 |
Training (Support Staff) |
|
3,300 |
|
|
|
|
|
3,300 |
|
4952 |
Dues, Subscriptions |
1,250 |
500 |
246 |
105 |
600 |
|
100 |
2,801 |
|
4953 |
Bar Association Dues |
456 |
23,256 |
7,296 |
3,192 |
4,560 |
|
|
38,760 |
|
4955 |
WAPA Dues |
5,175 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5,175 |
|
9103 |
Interfund DIS Overhead |
327,410 |
201,449 |
36,711 |
|
23,453 |
1,242 |
|
590,265 |
|
9104 |
Interfund Indirect Cost |
|
|
|
57,353 |
|
|
4,407 |
61,760 |
|
9201 |
Interfund Postage |
4,150 |
22,000 |
7,203 |
3,087 |
30,000 |
1,575 |
3,500 |
71,515 |
|
9202 |
Interfund Telephone |
6,264 |
91,440 |
25,948 |
11,120 |
33,300 |
4,190 |
4,012 |
176,274 |
|
9501 |
Interfund Space Rental |
14,437 |
142,621 |
|
|
|
6,464 |
8,678 |
172,200 |
|
9503 |
Interfund ER&R |
311 |
2,271 |
279 |
120 |
500 |
|
350 |
3,831 |
|
9506 |
Interfund Parking |
|
2,360 |
|
|
1,320 |
|
|
3,680 |
|
9601 |
Interfund County Premium |
47,086 |
1,676 |
|
5,285 |
13,595 |
1,962 |
1,963 |
71,567 |
|
9902 |
Interfund Advertising |
500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
500 |
|
9903 |
Interfund Printing |
1,000 |
10,940 |
1,050 |
450 |
1,000 |
100 |
1,000 |
15,540 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
889,257 |
7,987,189 |
2,189,790 |
1,092,492 |
2,552,125 |
249,473 |
333,824 |
15,294,150
|
The last, and probably
most important part, to consider are the changes to the existing or “STATUS
QUO” budget. These are put together using something called a “DECISION PACKAGE
Worksheet. BDT has a series of screens
that allow you to describe the new program, or changes to existing programs you
wish to have occur. The screens below
show what is needed. As you might expect it’s a narrative description of what
you want to have happen accompanied by additional screen to enter the details
of people and dollars needed to make things happen.
Note
the RED text in the pop-up “Decision Package
Type:” This is the place where you select what type of budet changes you want
to describe. The choices are: Standard, Other, Reduction, Capital, or
Technology. The type you select
determines what additional information you may need to enter. In the screen
shot above you can see the buttons “Expenditure & Revenue Data Entry Form”,
which is used to enter the expected expenditures and revenues for the proposed
program and the “New Reclassified
Position Worksheet” button, which is used for describing the new people
costs/changes you want.
The
screen shot for the “Expenditure & Revenue Data Entry Form” is shown
below. These decision packages, once
filled out can be printed. A decision
package asking for OAII’s
from the 2003 budget can be found in the (S:\Admin\Budget\2004\DecisionPackages)
folder.
When
budget reductions are proposed this will be the screen that is used for
entry. As you might expect, given this
year’s budget instructions to propose 6% reduction and to ‘balance’ requests
for increase against reductions there will be at least 2-3 “Decision Packages” of type “reduction”
proposed.
It
may seem obvious but you need to enter a text description, a justification or
rational, provide a relative ranking of this reduction as compared to other
reductions you may have submitted and of course fill in the revenue/expenditure
and people information as appropriate. The “Description” and “Justification”
information will be pulled together into “Decision
Packages Narratives” and “Budget
Cuts Narratives” by a BDT report for Executive and Council review. You can
look at what was submitted in 2003 by clicking on the links. The “Reduction
Package” file shows what the council can do to help us along in the
process.