2004 Performance Based Budget - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Executive Summary has been prepazed as a general overview of the City of South Bend's 2004 Budget. The 2004 Budget for all City funds totals $148.9 million for operating expenditures and $28.1 million for capital expenditures. As explained in more detail in Section D of this document, the City's current practice is to submit an operating budget to the City's Common Council during September for the fiscal yeaz commencing the following January. A capital budget is then submitted for approval during February of the budget yeaz. The main objective behind the delay in finalizing a capital budget stems from the City's desire to approve capital expenditures based upon actual cash on hand at the end of the fiscal yeaz. Both the operating budget and the capital budget aze approved by the Common Council through the passage of several ordinances. The budget becomes legally enacted a$er the City Controller receives approval from the State Board of Tax Commissioners. The City uses "funds" and "account groups" to report its financial position and the results of its operations. A fund is a sepazate accounting entity with aself-balancing set of accounts. An account group is a financial reporting device designed to provide accountability for certain assets and liabilities that aze not recorded in the funds because they do not directly afi'ect net expendable available financial resources. Funds are classified into three categories: governmental, proprietary and fiduciary. Each category, in turn, is divided into sepazate "fund types": Governmental funds aze used to account for all or most of a government's general activities, including the collection and disbursement of earmarked moneys ("special revenue funds"), the servicing of general long-term debt ("debt service funds") and the acquisition or construction of general fixed assets ("capital project funds"). The "general fund" is used to account for all activities of the general government not accounted for m some other fiord. Proprietary ftmds aze used to account for activities similar to those found m the private sector, where the determination of net income is necessary or useful to sound financial administration. Goods or services from such activities can be provided either to outside parties ("enterprise funds") or to other departments or agencies primarily within the government ("internal service funds"). Fiduciary funds ("trust and agency funds") aze used to account for assets held on behalf of outside parties, inchtdmg other governmental units, or on behalf of other funds within the same government unit. When these assets aze held under the terms of a formal trust agreement, a pension trust fund or an expendable trust fund is used. The term "expendable" means the City is under no obligation to maintain the trust principal. Agency funds generally aze used to account for assets that the government holds on behalf of others as their agent. The City establishes operating and/or capital budgets for thirty-five separate funds. These thirty- five budgets are grouped into six major fund types as follows: General Fund, eight Special B-1