Budgets

Contents

• Introduction
• Statutes
• Reference Sources
• Links to Budgets
• Budget Blogs - Citizen Input
• Budget Education
• Recommended Practices
• Related MRSC Pages
  • Biennial Budgeting
  • Budget Calendar for Preparation of 2012 Budgets in First (Under 300,000) and Second, and Fourth Class Cities, Code Cities, and Towns
  • Budget Calendar for Preparation of the 2012 Budgets for Non-Charter Counties
  • Communicating About Government Spending (What We Get for Our Dollar) 
  • Financial/Budget Policies

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.

Statutes

• Ch. 35.33 RCW -- Budgets In Second and Third Class Cities, Towns and First Class Cities Under 300,000.
• Ch. 35.34 RCW -- Biennial Budgets
• Ch. 35A.33 RCW -- Budgets in Code Cities
• Ch. 35A .34 RCW -- Biennial Budgets (Code cities)
• Ch. 36.40 RCW -- Budget (Counties)

Reference Sources

• Budget Suggestions for 2012 (), MRSC Information Bulletin 539, August 2011
• Budgets - MRSC Inquiries  (Ask MRSC)
• 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 (at the time) Lynnwood Finance Director Michael Bailey, and Tumwater Finance Director Gayla Gjertsen (now retired) for the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA), 2002 
• "Budgeting for Category 2 Cities and Towns," Section E (September 2006) from Small Cities Handbook, Washington State Auditor ()
• List of Government Finance Officers Association Budget Award Winners for 2009 () . 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.
• Selected MRSC Library Holdings - Budgeting for Local Governments
• Excerpt from Budget Suggestions for 1996 regarding submission of the proposed budget to the chief administrative officer
• Biennial Budgeting -  MRSC webpage
• Zero-Based Budgeting: Modern Experiences and Current Perspectives, () by Shayne C. Kavanagh; sponsored by the Government Finance Officers Association and the City of Calgary, Alberta

Links to Budgets

MRSC Library Resources -  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)

Budget Blogs - Citizen Input

• Kirkland - City's Budget Blog Offers New Way for Public Comment, News Release, October 28, 2010
  • Kirkland Budget Blog - The Kirkland City Council has begun to deliberate the Preliminary 2011-2012 Budget and seeks ideas, concerns and suggestions about the level of services being recommended. This Budget Blog is intended to pose topics, provide explanations and answer questions to help Kirkland residents and businesses better understand the various aspects of the City’s biennial budget.
• Seattle City Council - Share YOUR ideas for a better Seattle Powered By IdeaScale - Provide your input on balancing Seattle's 2011-2012 budget

Budget Education

• Communicating About Government Spending (What We Get for Our Dollar)  - MRSC
• Lynnwood - "A Citizen's Guide to Your City Government: City Budget Issues or Why My Taxes Never Seem to Be Enough!"
• Vancouver - "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 Committee on Governmental Budgeting and Fiscal Policy Best Practices
• Best Practices in Public Budgeting HTML version and pdf link  to full text of  Recommended Budget Practices: A Framework For Improved State and Local Government Budgeting, National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting (NACSLB), published by Government Finance Officers Association, 1998 - Includes at least one example of each practice.
• Report of the King County General Government Budget Advisory Task Force, June 2003. The mission of the task force was 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 (),  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