The Budget Process
Introduction
The Kent County Budget is a plan that annually directs the provision of County services and facilities. The annual budget represents the Kent County Board of Commissioners’ commitment to provide quality services to its residents in a cost-effective and efficient manner within the boundaries of available resources. State statutes require that the annual budget be balanced with revenues/resources equaling or exceeding estimated expenditures. With the exception of a few funds, which account for programs funded on the State or another funding source’s fiscal year, Kent County budgets on a calendar year basis. Adoption of the budget in September ensures that appropriations are in place for those departments budgeted on the State’s fiscal year (September 30 year-end), as well as the County’s calendar year.
Click Here to view the 2007 Budget Calendar.
Budget Preparation
Kent County involves a number of staff from throughout the organization to develop its budget. The Administrator/Controller annually appoints individuals from both administrative and nonadministrative departments to participate in budget review teams: each committee has an objective set of criteria and evaluation process. Recommendations from these committees are reviewed with the Administrator/Controller and the appropriate standing committee of the Board prior to being included in the recommended budget presentation. The Capital Improvement Program Review Committee (CIPRC) reviews all requests for capital projects valued at $25,000 and over. The Personnel Review Committee (PRC) reviews all new staffing requests. There is also an Operating Budget Review Committee (OBRC), consisting of individuals from the Administrator’s Office and Fiscal Services Department which reviews all operating budget requests, and prepares the recommended budget in consultation with the Administrator/Controller.
During the month of February, the budget staff begins to brief the County Administrator/Controller and the Finance and Physical Resources Committee of the Board of Commissioners on the financial outlook for the upcoming fiscal year. Financial forecast assumptions are updated, analyzed, and discussed and their impact upon the upcoming budget is reviewed. The Finance and Physical Resources Committee, with assistance from the Administrator/Controller, determines a preliminary target for the total County Budget as well as any special concerns that should be emphasized in the preparation of the next budget, for example, the moratorium on new positions instituted. The Administrator’s Office uses these decisions to develop the budget guidelines for the County departments. It is also during this month that the PRC issues its call letter for new positions to be requested as part of the budget process, if appropriate. The PRC process was not conducted for the 2007 budget due to a moratorium on new hires.
Throughout March, April and the first week of May, department directors prepare capital, personnel and operating budget requests based on these guidelines and an analysis of department needs and submit the requests to the Administrator’s Office. The PRC and CIPRC complete their review process first, and forward their results to the OBRC.
In June, the OBRC begins meetings to review departmental operating budget requests. Additional information is requested, and if necessary, department directors meet with the OBRC. During the 2007 process, departments were instructed to reduce their requests to revised target levels. Throughout the summer, the Administrator/Controller provides regular briefings to the Finance and Physical Resources Committee on the budget development process. Fiscal Services staff, in conjunction with the OBRC and in consultation with the Administrator/Controller, compiles a proposed budget which is formally presented to the Finance and Physical Resources Committee in August.
In August, the Finance and Physical Resources Committee decides upon a specific level of total funding and the proposed level of property tax levy to support that budget, and recommends to the Board of Commissioners the millage rate for the coming year. The Board of Commissioners sets a public hearing date under the provisions of the Truth and Taxation and Uniform Budget laws of the State of Michigan.
Public Hearing
The public hearing, typically set for the Board of Commissioners’ first meeting in September, provides an opportunity for citizens to voice their opinion as to the appropriateness of the proposed budget and millage levy. A notice of the hearing is published not less than two weeks before it occurs in a newspaper of general circulation in the County.
Budget Approval and Amendment
The Board of Commissioners, based on the input from the public hearing, instructs the Administrator’s Office to make any appropriate amendments to the proposed budget. The Board of Commissioners then approves the budget at its second meeting in September.
After the final approval of the budget by the Board of Commissioners, only limited budget changes can be made. A department may transfer its allocated funds internally from one account to another only with administrative approval. The one exception to this policy is that funds in Salary Accounts may not be transferred to other operating accounts within the department’s budget until the eleventh month of the budget. Funds cannot be moved from one department to another without formal approval by resolution of the Board of Commissioners upon recommendation of the Administrator’s Office. Requests for additional appropriations for new programs or staffing during the budget year require appropriate recommendation from the Administrator/Controller and approval by the Board of Commissioners.
The County Administrator/Controller shall provide the Finance Committee of the full Board, at the end of each fiscal quarter, a report of year to date revenues and expenditures compared to the budgeted amounts in the various funds of the County. Whenever it appears to the Kent County Administrator/Controller or the Kent County Board that the actual and probable revenues in any fund will be less than the estimated revenues upon which appropriations from such fund were based, or when it appears that expenditures will exceed an appropriation, the County Administrator/Controller shall present to the County Board recommendations to prevent expenditures from exceeding available revenues and reserves or appropriations for the budget year. Such recommendations may include proposals for reducing appropriations, increasing revenues or a combination of the two.
