HomeMy WebLinkAbout03- Users-Guide-p-7-87
User’s Guide to the Budget
The primary purpose of this document is to plan both the operating and capital improvement plans in accordance with the policies of the City of Georgetown. By adopting this budget, the City Council establishes the level of services to be provided, the amount of taxes and utility rates to be charged and various programs
and activities to be undertaken.
The Overview section includes the City Manager’s budget message with an overview of the previous year, as
well as, program and financial information about the Annual Budget. This section also includes variance
analysis and a summary analysis of the City’s major funds. The City Summary section includes information about Georgetown’s long-range planning process, the City Council’s priority areas and how they are interlinked to the City’s comprehensive plan, along with the budget adoption process and organizational chart. An overview of the 2010 Citizen’s Quality of Life survey and an in-depth community profile is also within this section. The Financial Summary provides revenue and expense information in both summary and detail format. This
document is presented not by Fund, but by Function. Charts illustrating the operational relationship by Fund
are included. Fund summaries that compare financial information over a multi-year period are provided.
The City’s budgeted governmental funds include the General Fund which accounts for all financial resources
except those required to be accounted for in another fund, and include basic governmental services, such as Police, Fire and Parks functions among others, 12 Special Revenue Funds (SRF) account for specific revenues that are legally restricted for specified purposes, the Debt Service Fund to account for the payment of general long-term debt principal and interest, and various Capital Project Funds used to account for the acquisition or construction of major capital facilities other than those financed by enterprise activities. In addition, the City budgets for proprietary funds including Internal Service Funds used to account for goods or services provided by one internal department to another, and Enterprise Funds used to account for the City’s “business like” activities including all the utility funds and the airport. The next 8 sections are dedicated to each functional area or Division of City operations. Each section
includes a summary “Uses and Expenses” for each Division, indicating in which fund the operation is included,
as well as, a summary of personnel within that Division. The Division Summary is followed by individual
department narrative pages which outline the goals and strategies for the upcoming year, and include
performance measurement information and the departmental budget.
The Capital Projects section provides information about the upcoming capital improvement program (CIP), including five year capital improvement plans for all utility and general capital improvements, as well as, anticipated funding requirements and operating budget impacts. The Debt section provides summary schedules for each of the City’s bond types, such as tax supported and self-supporting certificates of obligation, and utility revenue bonds. The City’s debt management policy and an overall outstanding debt summary is also included.
The Statistical section includes various miscellaneous data, as well as, graphs illustrating the historical
property tax revenue and related information. This section also includes the City’s key indicators data and peer
benchmarking information.
The Reference section includes the City’s Fiscal and Budgetary Policy, which guide not only the development of the City’s annual budget, but also much of the City’s financial operations. This policy is updated annually as part of the budget process. Financial ratio comparisons are included, along with personnel summaries, program summaries, and contingency reserve calculations. This section also includes utility rate schedules and copies of the ordinances adopting both the budget and tax rate. The City also includes budgets for both of its blended component units within this section. A Glossary and Index section is included to provide definitions of budget terminology along with a listing of
acronyms used throughout the budget, as well as, an alphabetical listing of topics and related page numbers.
8
This page intentionally left blank.