Following is the financial impact/adjustments necessary for the recommended carryover items:

General Fund

Increase Use of Fund Balance .......................... $2,856,862

Increase Grant/Offsetting Revenues .................    $262,785

Increase Expenditures ....................................... $2,094,647

Increase Transfer to Capital Projects Fund .......    $200,000

Increase Transfer to EDO Fund ........................    $825,000

Capital Projects Fund

Increase Transfer from General Fund ...............    $200,000

Increase Expenditures .......................................    $200,000

EDO Fund

Increase Transfer from General Fund ...............    $825,000

Increase Expenditures .......................................    $825,000

Utilities Operating Fund

Increase Use of Fund Balance ..........................    $263,799

Increase Expenditures .......................................    $192,970

Increase Transfer to Utilities Capital Fund ........      $70,829

Utilities Capital Projects Fund

Increase Transfer from Utilities Operating .........      $70,829

Increase Expenditures .......................................      $70,829

Mary Sorrell, Finance Director

Bonnie Jewell, Budget Manager

Barbara Verhaalen, Budget Analyst

At the close of each fiscal year, departments submit requests to carry forward funding from the previous Fiscal Year (FY 2017) to the current Fiscal Year (FY 2018).  In September 2016 – at which time 9 months of FY 2017 remained – the County Administrator alerted departments to new criteria for carryover requests in FY 2017 to include only those funds that are obligated or are otherwise restricted.  This change was prompted by concerns about prior practices that had allowed departments to propose completely new expenditures or initiatives outside of the comprehensive budget process and created perceived disparities in treatment.  Without there being clear parameters in place, some departments felt constrained to seek carryover approval only for items that had been through the budget process and approved by the Board, while others brought requests for totally new initiatives into the carryover process.  Clear carryover criteria were needed to ensure the maintenance of a fair and balanced carryover process within the framework of the Board’s approved budget. 

The carryover process is not meant to be a second budget process, create contingency funding within a department budget, or be used for ongoing expenses such as personnel or general operating expenses.  Carryover requests must meet at least one of the two following criteria and should be for specific goods, services, or equipment acquisitions. 

1. Obligated in FY 2017 –

   The request reflects an expenditure that was included in the FY 2017 Budget and was obligated (encumbered via a contract, purchase order, or equivalent) but not expended before the close of FY 2017.
   
   

2. Grant Funded, Restricted, Committed –

   The request reflects an expenditure that was grant funded, restricted, or committed.

Denial of carryover requests related to grant and/or other obligated funding would  negatively impact the County’s ability to meet the requirements associated with those obligations, potentially resulting in the need to return grant funding and impacting future grant requests.