2013–2014 BIENNIAL BUDGET - the City of Tukwila

2013-2014 Biennial Budget City of Tukwila, WashingtonBUDGET DEFINITIONSThe City Council authorizes transfers within funds and must approve by ordinance any amendmentsthat increase the total for the fund. Budget amounts presented in the basic financial statements includeboth the original amounts and the final amended budget as approved by the City Council.Expenditure categories are identified in the following:General Government – includes administration, finance, municipal court, attorney, and city clerk activities.Public Safety – includes all police and fire activities.Physical Environment – includes expenditures for the public works activities not chargeable to theenterprise funds.Transportation – includes all street and arterial street maintenance and construction.Economic Environment – reflects the planning and building inspection activities.Culture and Recreation – includes the parks and recreation activities.Budget and Accounting SystemThe official budget is maintained, both before and after adoption, on the City’s financial managementand accounting system at a very detailed line item level. Computerized reports may be generated at anytime and at various levels of detail. Departments can also access these budgets at any time on a readonlyinquiry basis to compare actual revenue and expenditures to their budgets. This computerizedbudget becomes the accounting system that controls expenditures after adoption of the final budget.Preliminary BudgetThe Preliminary Budget is prepared, pursuant to State law, as the Mayor’s budget recommendations tothe City Council. This public document contains a summary of information at the fund level, and for theGeneral Fund at the department level. It focuses on key policy issues, while still providing acomprehensive overview of the complete budget.Budget OrdinanceThe actual appropriations implementing the budget are contained in the budget ordinance adopted bythe City Council.Final BudgetThe Final Budget is issued as a formal published document as modified by the City Council. It is thisdocument which is formally filed as the Final Budget.ProgramsWhile the budget proposals of the administration are developed in concert with the fiscal proposals inthe budget, the budget documents themselves only summarize the individual objectives andperformance measures. Generally, these programs are not finalized until the budget is in final formsince the budget will determine the actual activities undertaken by each department.Components of the BudgetThe budget consists of two parts: operating budget and capital budget.Operating BudgetThe operating budget consists of departmental budget proposals, which would be sufficient to maintainthe objectives set by the departments to meet Council goals._____________________________________________________________________________________________Page 34