Budget process and overview and timeline
There are several steps involved in the process of creating temporary and permanent
estimates of expenditures and revenues. The process will involve the treasurer, the district’s
Board, and the County Auditor.
Estimates of resources must be approved by the Board and a Certificate of Estimated
Resources and Tax Budget submitted to the County Auditor. After an Official Certificate of
Estimated Resources is received from the Auditor’s office, temporary appropriations for
expenditures and revenues are approved by the Board and are entered into the USAS
accounts. This may be accomplished by using the Next Year Proposed options of the
APPROP program prior to fiscal year end closing, or by using the Initial/Permanent Account
Balance options of the APPROP program immediately after the year end closing.
A Temporary Appropriations Resolution must be submitted to the County Auditor before and
expenditures can be made in the new fiscal year.
After the fiscal year end closing, the district will submit a Certificate of the Total Amount
from All Sources Available for Expenditures, and Balances to the County Auditor. Some
time line later in the year, the Auditor will issue a final certification of the district’s spending
plan, and at this point the Board will approve an Annual Appropriations Resolution for the
permanent appropriation of expenditures. The total amount of appropriations cannot exceed
the amount of revenues as given on the official certificate of resources.
The treasurer can then use the Account Balance options of APPROP to adjust any temporary
appropriated amounts as necessary.
If changes need to be made in the estimated revenues, an Amended Official Certificate of
Estimated Resources can be submitted by the district to the Auditor’s office for approval.
An example might be that the district receives an unanticipated grant.
Also any changes in the appropriations for expenditures must be approved by the Board and
submitted to the Auditor’s office for approval. Examples might be to move money from one
appropriation account to another, or for a fund to fund transfer.
Sample:
Prior to Jan. 20: Prepare information for 2 documents – Tax Budget and Certificate of
Estimated Resources – to be submitted to the County Auditor by Jan. 20. Generally these are
done on a spreadsheet and figures are based on current year activity, past history, and
financial forecasting estimates. The treasurer needs to justify to the Budget Commission the
need to receive all local tax revenues. This Commission also has the authority to reduce
mileage rates if need is not shown.
By Jan. 20: The Tax Budget and Certificate of Estimated Resources documents need to be
approved by the district’s Board and submitted to the County Auditor.
March-April: An Official Certificate of Estimated Resources is received from the County
Auditor’s office. This will indicate what the district can expect to receive from all sources.
The district’s Board needs to pass a resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined
by the Budget Commission and authorizing necessary tax levies, and submit this to the
Auditor.
March – June: Requests for expenditures are gathered by administrators in preparation for
an Appropriations Resolution. The treasurer may run the EXPWRK worksheet programs –
BUDWRK, APPWRK, and REVWRK to assist in the process of estimating expenditures and
revenues for the next fiscal year. Information is reviewed by the Board at the appropriation
level. The treasurer will enter values into the next year proposed fields for expenditures and
for revenues by using the Next Year Proposed options of the APPROP program. The
amounts entered are “temporary” and may well be changed once certification is received
from the County Auditor’s office (sometime in the fall).
Before July 1: A temporary Appropriations Resolution is approved by the district’s board,
and submitted to the County Auditor. The treasurer can use the APPRES option of the
USACERT program to do this. This option can be run prior to the fiscal year closing, and
takes data directly from the “next year’s proposed” fields on the district’s account file.
After July 1: After the ADJUST program is run for the fiscal year closing, a Certificate of
the Total Amount from All Sources Available for Expenditures, and Balances is generated,
approved by the Board, and submitted to the County Auditor. The treasurer can use the
CERTBAL option of the USACERT program to do this. This should be run after ADJUST
has been run to close out the fiscal year.
Note: If the treasurer did not use the Next Year Proposed options of APPROP to enter
values into the next year proposed field prior to closing, they will now use Account Balance
options of APPROP instead to enter temporary values into the initial budget and initial
estimated revenue fields, and then run the APPRES option of the USACERT program. If
changes need to be made in the estimated revenues, the treasurer should generate an
*Amended Official Certificate of Estimated Resources*, and after approval by the district’s
Board, submit this to the County Auditor’s office. The AMDCERT option of the USACERT
program can be used to do this. This submission can be done at any time when the revenues
received, or to be received, change from what was previously approved on the Official
Certificate of Estimated Resources. For example, if the district receives an unanticipated
grant during the fiscal year, the Amended Certificate must be approved by the Board and
submitted to the Auditor before the district can legally expend the grant money.
Before Oct. 1, or upon Certification from the County Auditor: After receiving final
certification of the district’s spending plan from the County Auditor, an Annual
Appropriations Resolution needs to be generated and approved by the district’s Board. The
treasurer can use the APPRES option of the USACERT program to do this. It is important
that the total of the appropriations does not exceed the total amount of revenues as given on
the official certificate of resources. The treasurer can now enter permanent appropriation
amounts by using the Permanent Account option of APPROP.