2013–2014 BIENNIAL BUDGET - the City of Tukwila

2013-2014 Biennial Budget City of Tukwila, WashingtonBUDGET SUMMARYThis section summarizes the 2013-2014 biennial budget and provides comparisons to previous years’revenues and expenditures. The section begins with a summary of the City’s financial structure and anoverview of the City’s general fiscal environment followed by summarized budget data of revenues andexpenditures for all funds combined. The reader is encouraged to refer to the General Fund and OtherFunds tabs for a more detailed account of the departmental budgets.Financial Structure of the City BudgetThe City of Tukwila’s accounting and budget structure is based upon governmental fund accounting toensure legal compliance and financial management for various restricted revenues and programexpenditures. Fund accounting segregates certain functions and activities into separate self-balancingfunds created and maintained for specific purposes (as described below). Resources from one fund usedto offset expenditures in a different fund are budgeted as either a ‘transfer to’ or ‘transfer from’.The City of Tukwila budget is organized in a hierarchy of levels, each of which is defined below:FundDepartmentProgramObjectA fund is an accounting entity used to record the revenues and expenditures of agovernmental unit which is designated for the purpose of carrying out specific activitiesor attaining certain objectives. For example Fund 104, the Arterial Street Fund, isdesignated for the purpose of maintaining the arterial streets within the City.A department designates a major function of City operations, e.g., Public Works or Parksand Recreation.A specific distinguishable line of work performed by the department for the purpose ofaccomplishing a function for which government is responsible. For example, “TrafficControl” is included within the Street Funds.The appropriation unit (object of expenditure) is the level of detail used in the budget tosort and summarize objects of expenditure according to the type of goods or servicesbeing purchased, e.g., salaries, supplies.Page 47