Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 09-16-08 workshop agenda — reading text

expenditures required by law or for debt service or for an estimated cash deficit, provided that no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount greater than total estimated income. c) Adoption. The city council shall adopt the budget on or before the day of the month of the fiscal year currently ending. If it fails to adopt the budget by this date, the budget proposed by the city manager shall go into effect. d) " Publish" defined. As used in this article, the term " publish" means to print in the contemporary means of information sharing, which includes but is not limited to, one or more newspapers of general circulation in the city, and, if available, in a web site. Commentary. The only restrictions placed on the council with respect to action on the budget are those governing the adoption procedure, the requirement that certain mandatory expenditures may not be decreased or deleted, and the requirement that total authorized expenditures may not exceed the total of estimated income. No specific date as the deadline for adoption of the budget has been included. Setting a deadline for adoption does not preclude the earlier completion of action on the budget with ample time for public hearings and council consideration of the budget, if the manager submits it early enough. When amendments are made following public hearing but before adoption that result in significant changes in the budget which the public would not have anticipated, the council should consider holding an additional public hearing to consider the amendments. The Model promotes a favored course of action for dealing with the failure of the council to adopt the budget by the prescribed deadline. It recommends that the budget as submitted by the manager be deemed adopted. Among other possibilities in such a situation are ( 1) for the amounts appropriated for operations in the current fiscal year to be deemed adopted; ( 2) for the manager's budget to be deemed adopted but with amendments by the council being permitted during the first month of the new fiscal year; ( 3) to authorize the council to make temporary appropriations for a period not to exceed one month, during which time it would presumably complete adoption of the budget for the remainder of the fiscal year; and ( 4) to provide that the budget of the preceding fiscal year should be applicable automatically for the first month of the ensuing year, with the presumption that action will be completed during that time. The city is required to publish and make the budget publicly available. In doing this, as with any publishing, the city should also consider translating the budget into other languages to communicate better with residents if necessary. 33 Section 5. 06. Appropriation and Revenue Ordinances. To implement the adopted budget, the city council shall adopt, prior to the beginning of the fiscal year: appropriations by department, fund, a) an appropriation ordinance making service, strategy or other organizational unit and authorizing an allocation for each program or activity; b) a tax levy ordinance authorizing the property tax levy or levies and setting the tax rate or rates; and c) any other ordinances required to authorize new revenues or to amend the rates or other features of existing taxes or other revenue sources. Commentary. The previous edition of the Model in the adoption subsection provided: " Adoption of the budget shall constitute appropriations of amounts specified therein as expenditures from the funds indicated and shall constitute a levy of the property tax therein proposed." It took note that some states required that appropriations and the tax levy be by ordinance. Alternative language to cover that requirement was included. This edition specifically calls for appropriation ordinances and revenue ordinances and that appropriations be by department, fund, service, strategy or major organizational unit within each fund. The appropriations for each department or unit would not be broken down in the same detail as the budget. There would be a property tax levy ordinance and other revenue ordinances authorizing revenues from non -property taxes. Section 5. 07. Amendments after Adoption. a) Supplemental Appropriations. If during or before the fiscal year the city manager certifies that there are available for appropriation revenues in excess of those estimated in the budget, the city council by ordinance may make supplemental appropriations for the year up to the amount of such excess. b) Emergency Appropriations. To address a public emergency affecting life, health, property or the public peace, the city council may make emergency appropriations. Such appropriations may be made by emergency ordinance in accordance with the provisions of 2. 14. To the extent that there are no available unappropriated revenues or a sufficient fund balance to meet such appropriations, the council may by such emergency ordinance authorize the issuance of emergency notes, which may be renewed from time to time, but the emergency notes and renewals of any fiscal year shall be paid or refinanced as long- term debt not later than the last day of the fiscal year next succeeding that in which the emergency appropriation was made. 34  c) Reduction of Appropriations. If at any time during the fiscal year it appears probable to the city manager that the revenues or fund balances available will be insufficient to finance the expenditures for which appropriations have been authorized, the manager shall report to the city council without delay, indicating the estimated amount of the deficit, any remedial action taken by the manager and recommendations as to any other steps to be taken. The council shall then take such further action as it deems necessary to prevent or reduce any deficit and for that purpose it may by ordinance reduce or eliminate one or more appropriations. d) Transfer of Appropriations. At any time during or before the fiscal year, the city council may by resolution transfer part or all of the unencumbered appropriation balance from one department, fund, service, strategy or organizational unit to the appropriation for other departments or organizational units or a new appropriation. The manager may transferfunds among programs within a department, fund, service, strategy or organizational unit and shall report such transfers to the council in writing in a timely manner. e) Limitation; Effective Date. No appropriation for debt service may be reduced or transferred, except to the extent that the debt is refinanced and less debt service is required, and no appropriation may be reduced below any amount required by law to be appropriated or by more than the amount of the unencumbered balance thereof. The supplemental and emergency appropriations and reduction or transfer of appropriations authorized by this section may be made effective immediately upon adoption. Commentary. Supplemental appropriations, which can be the bane of any good budget procedure, are restricted to situations in which the manager certifies to council the availability of money in excess of the total revenues estimated in the budget. Another possibility for use of such " windfall" sums is to require their use in the succeeding year's budget as revenue, which would have the effect of reducing the tax levy. Supplemental appropriations may be made only by ordinance and all the provisions regarding publication, notice of hearing, etc., applicable to other ordinances must be followed. Emergency appropriations may be budgeted in accordance with the procedure for emergency ordinances. Provision is made for reduction of appropriations when the manager believes available revenues will not cover appropriations and a deficit is likely. The primary responsibility is clearly the manager's but it is his or her duty to inform the council and then implement any ordinances or resolutions the council may enact. With appropriations being made by departments, funds, services, strategies and major organizational units and not by objects, the manager has the freedom to make transfers from unencumbered balances within departments of units but must notify the council of transfers. When an unencumbered balance cxists in one department or unit, all or part of it may be transferred to the appropriation of another department or unit by council resolution. 35  N Section 5. 08. Administration and Fiduciary Oversight of the Budget. The city council shall provide by ordinance the procedures for administration and fiduciary oversight of the budget. Commentary. The council will by ordinance establish the procedures and controls for implementation of the budget. The council is entrusted with the fiduciary responsibility for the city and as such must provide review and oversight of the budget. The city manager administers the budget and manages the work programs and spending by departments within the policy goals and appropriations set by the council. Proposed work programs and requested allotments should be submitted tothe manager by department heads following adoption of the budget. The manager should review the programs and allot portions of the total appropriation based upon the work expected to be performed during a particular period of time, usually three months. As chief administrator, the manager must have the authority to revise the allotments at any time during the year and for any reason. Section 5. 09. Capital Program. a) Submission to City Council. The city manager shall prepare and submit to the city council a multi -year capital program no later than three months before the final date for submission of the budget. b) Contents. The capital program shall include: 1) A clear general summary of its contents; 2) Identification of the long -term goals of the community; 3) A list of all capital improvements and other capital expenditures which are proposed to be undertaken during the fiscal years next ensuing, with appropriate supporting information as to the necessity for each; 4) Cost estimates and recommended time schedules for each improvement or other capital expenditure; 5) Method of financing upon which each capital expenditure is to be reliant; 6) The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining the facilities to be constructed or acquired; 7) A commentary on how the plan addresses the sustainability of the community and the region of which it is a part; and 8) Methods to measure outcomes and performance of the capital plan related to the long -term goals of the community. The above shall be revised and extended each year with regard to capital improvements still pending or in process of construction or acquisition. we Commentary. The Model' s multi -year capital program provisions should compel