Budgets

Contents

• Introduction
• Reference Sources
• Documents

Introduction

The operating budget is probably a municipality's most important work product. The budget serves a number of functions. At the most basic level it is a legal document that gives city or county officials the authority to incur obligations and pay expenses. It allocates resources among departments, reflecting the legislative body's priorities and policies and controls how much each department may spend. In most jurisdictions, the budget has evolved from just being a bunch of numbers. Budgets often include mission statements, goals, and objectives that convey to the citizens the vision for the future of the municipality's elected officials and let the officials communicate why they have allocated the scarce resources in the manner that they did. A budget can also be an evaluation tool, comparing commitments made in the previous year's budget with actual accomplishments.

Reference Sources

• Statutes
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• MRSC Library Resources [Note: Clicking on one of the links below will take you to a list of documents available on loan through the MRSC library.]
  • City and Town Budgets available from the MRSC Library (complete list of paper AND online budgets)
  • Washington City Budgets (online budgets only)
  • County Budgets available from the MRSC Library (complete list of paper AND online budgets)
  • Washington County Budgets (online budgets only)
  • Biennial Budgets available from the MRSC Library (complete list of paper AND online budgets)
  • Special District Budgets available from the MRSC Library (complete list of paper AND online budgets)
  • Selected MRSC Library Holdings - Budgeting for Local Governments
  • List of Government Finance Officers Association Budget Award Winners for 2006. Some jurisdictions have links to their most recent budgets, although they may not have had their budget for that year reviewed. Washington winners are included also.

Documents

• Biennial Budgeting, MRSC Web Page
• Budgeting for cities and towns in Washington state : a handbook for policy makers, chief appointed officials and others involved in the budget making process / developed by Lynnwood Finance Director Michael Bailey, and Tumwater Finance Director Gayla Gjertsen for the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA) (195 KB)
• "Budgeting for Category 2 Cities and Towns," Section E (September 2006) from Small Cities Handbook, Washington State Auditor (682 KB)

Budget Education

• Lynnwood,WA - "A Citizen's Guide to Your City Government: City Budget Issues or Why My Taxes Never Seem to Be Enough!"
• Vancouver, WA - "Budget 101."
• "Budgeting for Outcomes : Delivering Results Citizens Value at a Price They Are Willing to Pay," by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson. Governing Finance Review, October 2004

Recommended Practices

• GFOA Recommended Practices - Budgeting and Financial Management.
• National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting (NACSLB), Recommended Budget Practices (1998) (Includes at least one example of each practice.)
• Report of the King County General Government Budget Advisory Task Force . The mission of the task force is to examine the County's Current Expense (CX) Fund, programs, policies, processes and budgets, and make recommendations regarding policy and operational changes that may provide appropriate additional cost savings, as well as the need, if any, for additional revenues in support of CX programs.
• "Shortchanged: King County's Fiscal Crisis," ( 128.43 KB) a report by the Municipal League of King County, November 13, 2003. The purpose of this report is to identify key issues affecting King County's fiscal health and to make recommendations to improve it.
• State Auditor's Office Bulletin 1999-01 - Salary Increases for Elected Officials and the Consumer Price Index