GUIDE TO READING THE PROPOSED BUDGET
The Proposed Budget comprises two volumes that are broken down by sections.
Although the Table of Contents outlines what is contained in these sections,
this guide serves to assist the reader in better understanding how the document
is structured.
County Manager's Budget Message
The County Manager, who serves as the chief administrative officer of the
County, summarizes the Proposed Budget, highlighting the outlook for revenues
and taxes, expenditures, priority programs and options for County Board
initiatives for the FY 2004 budget.
Summary Schedules
Section A contains tables and charts that summarize the budget. The
major components of this section are as follows.
Fund Descriptions: For accounting purposes, fiscal activities in the
County are separated by fund type. The fund descriptions outline the
categories of funds used for budget purposes.
Expenditure Summary - All Funds: This section illustrates all of the
County Government and School Board expenditures, by fund type.
General Fund Summary: This section illustrates major categories of
General Fund expenditures and revenues. The General Fund is the primary
operating fund of the County.
Pie Charts: The revenue chart illustrates the revenue sources that
comprise each dollar of Arlington's General Fund revenues. The expense chart
details how each dollar spent is distributed among various services within the
General Fund.
County Government Summary: This summary provides a three year (FY
2002 Actual, FY 2003 Adopted and FY 2004 Proposed) detail of staffing levels
(funded FTEs) and expenditures by department and fund.
Proposed Budget Positions: This chart summarizes the changes in full
time equivalent positions (FTEs) between the FY 2003 adopted budget and the FY
2004 proposed budget, highlighting positions added and eliminated.
Expenditure Comparison: This summary provides a three year
department-level detail of expenditures, including the change between the
current year and the proposed budget.
Strategic Initiatives: These proposals respond to community
priorities identified by the County Board as part of its calendar year 2003
goals, and further the vision for the County. These initiatives are not
included in the County Manager’s base proposed budget, but are presented for
consideration by the County Board as possible additions to the budget.
Status of Prior Year Strategic Initiatives: The FY 2003 proposed
budget included a variety of policy and program options as additions to
current funding levels, a number of which were approved by the County Board as
part of the adopted budget. This summary provides information on the status of
implementation of the FY 2003 strategic initiatives.
Multi-Departmental Programs: A list of Multi-Departmental Programs
is included in this section to identify certain programs with costs that
overlap departments and funds. This is to give the reader a better perspective
on the overall County funding allocated for these types of programs.
Arlington County Profile: Pertinent data about the County's history,
organizational structure, and demographics can be found in this section.
Revenue
Section B provides an analysis of revenue trends and projections. The
economic climate in Arlington County serves as the basis for discussion about
how FY 2004 proposed revenue estimates are derived. This section includes
revenue reestimates for FY 2003 for all tax revenues, based on
year-to-date revenue collections and other factors that were not known when the
budget was adopted. All other (non-tax) revenues in this section show the
adopted budget amounts for FY 2003 (the current fiscal year). The department
narratives display adopted revenues for FY 2003, reflecting the budgeted
levels from the FY 2003 adopted budget. Information about the types of taxes
that are levied in the County are detailed in this section. Fee changes in the
proposed budget are also highlighted, and summaries are provided of other
revenues by major category.
Components of a Department Budget
Arlington County government services are provided by departments that focus
on particular areas such as human services or public safety. These departments
typically, but not always, can be further subdivided into programs. Sections
C through N of this document provide information about each of the County's
General Fund departments. An organization chart introduces the department and is
followed by a narrative and financial tables. Details are as follows.
Organization Chart: An illustration of how departments are structured.
Department Budget Summary: The Summary provides the following
information:
The department Mission Statement is a brief comment about the
department's function in County government.
FY 2004 Priorities state the department's goals and provide insight
into the areas into which the department is putting its resources.
Principal Programs list the major program areas of each department
with a distribution graph.
Significant Budget Changes explains how the department addresses the
priorities set forth and highlights the major issues and changes in revenue,
expenditures, FTEs and programming.
Mission Outcome Measures provide data on performance which relate
the mission of the department to measurable outcomes. This section is new for
FY 2004.
Future Budget Considerations describe factors that may impact future
budgets. These are also listed in the program narratives.
Program Narratives: More specific information about how departments
provide services and accomplish their goals is provided in the program budgets.
The program narratives begin with a Program Mission, stating why the
program exists, and a brief program description.
Budget Tables illustrate expenses and revenue by category, and FTEs.
These are shown for FY 2002 actuals, FY 2003 adopted budget, and the FY 2004
proposed budget. The categories used to detail expenses and revenues may vary
somewhat by department, depending on unique circumstances. The major
categories include:
Personnel: Expenses for salaries, wages and employee fringe benefits,
such as retirement, health and life insurance. Normal salary increases and
adjustments mentioned in program/department narratives include position
reclassifications, market rate salary adjustments, and salary step
increases.
Non-Personnel: Operating expenses such as office supplies, equipment,
maintenance contacts, telephone charges, and electricity.
Inter-Departmental Credit: Reimbursement for services performed by one
department to support another County department, such as the reimbursement
from Arlington County Schools to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for
physical therapy services in the School Health program.
Intra-County Charges: Charges by one unit of County government to support
another unit's activities, such as construction work done by the Department
of Public Works in support of a Department of Parks, Recreation and
Community Resources project.
Fees: Monies received by the County as payment for services, goods or use
of a facility, such as residential refuse disposal fees and user fees for
recreation programs.
Grants: Monetary contributions, usually from state or federal agencies,
to be used for a specific purpose or activity, such as state transit aid for
operation of the trolley and transit stores.
Net Tax Support: Net tax support is the remainder determined by
subtracting all state and federal aid, fees, and charges from the total
expenditures of the programs. It is used to estimate the amount of general
tax dollars (as opposed to program-specific revenues) that are required to
provide services.
FTEs: Authorized reflects the number of FTEs which are approved. Funded
reflects the number of authorized FTEs for which funds are budgeted.
Program budgets contain Performance Measures, which typically span
four years from FY 2001 Actual to FY 2004 Estimate. Measures are developed to
reflect programmatic goals, objectives and resources. These measures are
designed to track performance and are regularly updated to better reflect
changing goals. When measures are revised, prior year data is often not
available. Current and proposed fiscal year measures are expressed as
estimates. The FY 2004 Target represents a goal for program performance. In
some instances, the figure in the Target column represents a standard (a level
of performance expected for a particular discipline or industry) or benchmark
(a level of performance in another jurisdiction identified as being “best in
class”).
Ten Year History: The history displays major changes within the
department over time and summarizes expenditures, revenue and authorized FTEs.
Other Operating Funds
Found in Section O is a summary of the funds that are not represented
in the General Fund. Definitions of fund types can be located in Section A under
Fund Descriptions. Operating statements are also included for these internal
service, enterprise and special revenue funds. These operating statements may
reflect estimated amounts, not appropriation amounts, in the FY 2003 Revised
columns.
Pay-As-You-Go Capital
Pay-As-You-Go Capital refers to County projects, typically valued at $25,000
or more, that are financed in the same fiscal year the project is initiated. No
borrowing or issuing of bonds is undertaken to implement these projects.
Section P summarizes the projects planned by Arlington County in FY 2004.
Glossary and Appendices
A glossary is located in Section Q. The glossary defines key budget
and accounting terms used throughout the entire document. This section also
contains commonly used acronyms.
Also included in Section Q is a chart with selected fiscal indicators
for the County.
Calendar
Following this guide is the budget calendar for FY 2004. The fiscal year
begins July 1, 2003 and ends June 30, 2004. Pertinent timetables surrounding
formulation and implementation of the budget are contained in this section.
