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Local Budget Preparation and Execution

by Billy Edwards,Hinesville City Manager

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Presentation Overview

Hinesville Quick Facts Hinesville Budget Overview Revenues Expenditures Funds Intergovernmental Relations and Outside Agencies Pros & Cons Final Thoughts

City of Hinesville Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide the highest quality of life, nurture a strong business community, and maintain efficient government for the residents of Hinesville.

City of Hinesville Vision

Our vision is to be the coastal “southern living” community of choice in Georgia for a day or a lifetime. We are committed to serving our residents with superior organization that demonstrates excellence, responsiveness and efficiency.

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Hinesville Quick Facts

County seat and largest city in Liberty County *Population: 33,437• 30% population under age 18• 47% Black, 40% White, 11% Hispanic • 9.3% unemployment• 92% graduate from high school• $45,000 median household income

14 city operating departments

*According to Census 2010

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Budget Overview

Line-Item Budget Bottom-Up Approach Some performance measurements included (see pp 178-183 of FY2012 budget book) Fiscal performance tracked monthly by CFO and city

manager to monitor budget

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Budget Process

May > Department heads prepare line items July > Department heads meet with CFO, City Manager and

Councilmember for the department to review requests August > Department heads meet with CFO, City Manager

and Councilmember for the department to cut budgets September > Budget workshop with Mayor, Council,

Department heads, and Public to get input on balancing the budget

October > Required by law to have a public budget hearing 1 week prior to budget adoption; goal is to adopt by Oct. 31

November > Required by Charter to adopt by Nov. 30

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Revenues Four largest sources

• Property taxes• Sales taxes• Insurance Premium taxes• Franchise taxes

Estimate revenues• 30 % ad valorem tax digest• 25% local option sales tax

Use local economy and historical data to make determinations about revenue

Ask the questions:• “What have we done in the past?”• “What conditions drive the revenue?”

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Expenditures

Department heads prepare detailed line item budgets City Manager and CFO analyze previous budget and

ask for justification of request Make sure numbers are realistic Consider changing circumstances• Population• Costs of Goods and Services

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Types of Funds

General fund Multiple Grant fund Water & Sewer fund Sanitation fund Liberty Transit fund Stormwater Utility fund

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Intergovernmental relations

Revenue and transfers to and from other governments Examples• Federal and State grants (eg. CDBG, OneGeorgia)• Shared revenue (eg. LOST, TIA)• SPLOST• Hotel/Motel Tax

$5.4 million of our budget in FY 2012 Depend on them to complete some projects and

provide some services

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Outside Agencies

Liberty Consolidated and Planning Commission Hinesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Liberty County Records Center Live Oak Public Libraries Liberty County Chamber of Commerce MidCoast Regional Airport Liberty County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Coastal Georgia Regional Commission

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Process Analysis

Pros• City Manager and Elected Officials receive detailed working

knowledge• Logical forecasts and mechanism to double-check• Opportunity for public input

Cons• Tendency to focus on small things and overlook big picture• Lengthy process• Forecasting takes place 15 months ahead of actual experience• Document may not be easily understood by average citizen

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What happens next…

View our budget• City Hall (view or request a copy)• Online at www.cityofhinesville.org/finance• All county and city budgets in Georgia can be viewed online

– CVIOG website https://ted.cviog.uga.edu/financial-documents/docs– View ours at https://ted.cviog.uga.edu/financial-documents/node/2695

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Questions

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Contact us!

Call us > (912) 876-3564 Email us > publicrelations@cityofhinesville.org

Visit us > www.cityofhinesville.org Like us > www.facebook.com/hinesvillega Follow us > www.twitter.com/hinesvillega