Fiscal Year 2012 Budget City of Fresno C.A

Fiscal Year 2012 Budget City of Fresno C.A

Answer 1

The City Manager's recommended operating budget is presented as City of Fresno's Budget of Municipal Services for the period beginning July 1, 2011 and ending June 30, 2012. The 2010/11 Budget of Municipal Services is divided into three sections: budget tables identifying the City's overall financial plan; operating plans for all City Departments; and summary tables of all miscellaneous funds. The development, evaluation, and production of the annual operating budget is a lengthy process involving many different steps and many members of the staff, as well as the valued input of the Budget Advisory Committee.

The schedule that follows outlines the major elements in the operating budget development process. The schedule is approximate and covers one complete budget cycle. The City of Riverbank prepares its budget and maintains its accounting records under the modified accrual basis of accounting. This basis is consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) applicable to local government as recommended by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) (Wanna, 2003).

The City's accounts are organized on the basis of funds, each of which is considered a separate accounting entity, and which are required by State or Federal law or proper accounting practice. The operations of each fund are accounted for with a separate set of self-balancing accounts that comprise its assets, liabilities, fund equity, revenues, and expenditures.

Governmental resources are allocated to and accounted for in individual funds based upon the purposes for which they are to be spent and the means by which spending activities are controlled. The operating budget includes proposed spending from many different funds. Depending on the type of service provided by a department, expenditures may be authorized from a number of funds. The majority of traditional City services are funded through the General Fund.

Expenditures may not legally exceed appropriations at the departmental level in the Governmental Fund types. Grant funds, special revenue funds, and capital funds are maintained according to the specific requirements of the project and may have different accounting treatments. The City's financial system treats encumbrances as budgeted expenditures in the year the commitment to purchase is made. Encumbrances outstanding at year-end are reported as reserved fund balances since they are neither expenditures nor liabilities. All appropriations lapse at fiscal year-end, which means the authority to spend the money for that certain purpose has expired. Fund balances may be encumbered for use at some future date. Revenues are recognized in the accounting period in which they become both measurable and available. Accordingly, revenues are recorded when received, except that revenues subject to accrual are recognized when due. Revenues susceptible to accrual are Property taxes, Sales taxes, Franchise taxes, intergovernmental revenue, interest revenue and other taxes.

City of Fresno Deficit Funds

Fund

Fiscal Year 2011 Fund Balance

Fiscal Year 2011 Progress

Fiscal Year 2012 Adopted

Fiscal Year 2012 Ending Balance

Environmental Development Fund

($1,624,136)

$487,000

$1,187,136

0

Convention Center Fund

($839,242)

$654,442

$184,400

($3,941,630)

Conference Center Expansion

($567,979)

$476,979

$91,000

0

Zoo Enterprise Fund

($1,174,715)

$587,700

$587,015

0

HUD HOME Fund - CDBG

($3,829,524

$3,049,589

$779,935

0

Parking Fund

($13,821,600)

($1,004,600)

$22,800

($14,803,400)

Source: City of Fresno 2011-12 Budget

Answer 2

Accordingly, they are ...