Financial Structure

Budgetary Procedures
The County Executive submits an operating budget each year, which, after the public hearing, is adopted by the County Legislature.

Expenditures during the fiscal year may only be made pursuant to appropriations from the General Fund and other special purpose funds established by the County.

However, during the fiscal year, the County Legislature, on the recommendation of the County Executive, may, by resolution, make additional appropriations from any unencumbered balances in appropriations, contingency funds or unanticipated revenues, and to a limited extent by the issuance of budget notes.

Budget Monitoring and Fiscal Controls
The Division of Management and Budget has identified approximately 30 major expenditure and revenue accounts that are critical to maintaining a balanced budget. Budget analysts regularly meet with fiscal officers in line departments to collect data on expenditures, revenues, performance measures and caseload trends, and to discuss potential budgetary issues in upcoming months. The indicators in the data base are updated at least monthly based on both the information submitted and discussions at these meetings. The data that has been collected is used to produce a number of reports projecting short and long-term budget performance. These reports include:

Appropriation/Revenue Forecasts:
Quarterly reports on key expenditure and revenue accounts are produced and these reports are the most important component of budget monitoring activities.

Five Year Budget Projection:
This document is intended to be an early warning system for budget officials. It is driven from the database of key indicators. This document allows officials to formulate plans to address major budget issues confronting the County on a timely basis.

Ensuing Year Departmental Budgets:
These forecasts are used to project incremental growth of departmental budget accounts during the budget request process. Requests for funds beyond what is projected must be fully documented and justified.

Special Reports:
The 30 revenue and expenditure indicators serve as an important database for many special reports on key issues facing the County.