Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer — Lesson 27

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 4th Edition

Chapter 27 — Administrative Programs

Fire and Emergency ServicesCompany Officer

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Learning Objectives

1.Select facts about developing policies and procedures.

2.Develop a fire service policy or procedure.

3.Define the term budget.

(Continued)

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Learning Objectives

4.Identify the three functions that a budget fulfills.

5.Define the terms budget system and budget type.

6.Select facts about various budget systems.

(Continued)

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Learning Objectives

7.Compare and contrast operating and capital budgets.

8.Identify the stages of a budget cycle.

9.Identify various revenue sources.

(Continued)

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Learning Objectives

10. Select facts about the budget-development process.

11. Develop and justify a project budget.

12. Select facts about the steps in the purchasing process.

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Developing Policiesand Procedures

• Written policies and procedures

• Company officer’s responsibilities

• Steps for determining new policy/procedure

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Budget

• Preparation and development• Budget — Planned quantitative allocation of

financial resources for specific activities• Fire Officer II must be able to develop a

project or divisional budget

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Functions of Budgets

• Describe/identify relationships • Provide assistance• Clarify political power

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Budget System and Type

• Budget system — Model or format to which the budget process conforms

• Budget type — How costs or revenues are divided between capital and operational purchases

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Various Budget Systems

• Line-item

• Zero-based

• Matrix

• Program

• Planning programming budgeting system

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Operating and Capital Budgets

• Managing company officers responsible for preparing requests

• Division request involves updating previous year’s budget

• Requests from various projects/ groups combined

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Capital Budget

• Includes projected major purchase

• Multiyear capital improvement plans or projects can be used to fund major investments.

• Revenues may come from a variety of sources.

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Operating Budget

• Used to pay for recurring expenses of day-to-day operations

• Largest item in most career organizations is personnel costs

• Non-personnel items

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Reasons for SeparatingCapital and Operating Budgets

• Funding

• Decision-making

• Planning and implementation time frames

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Stages of a Budget Cycle

• Identifies major events or activities

• Four stages– Formulation– Enactment– Execution– Auditing/Assessment

• Usually annual

• Three cycles in North America

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Revenue Sources

• Primary revenue sources

• Secondary revenue sources

• Tax revenues

(Continued)

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Revenue Sources

• Property taxes

• Sales taxes

• Personal income taxes

• Special purpose tax levy

• Fees

• Trust funds

• Enterprise funds

(Continued)

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Revenue Sources

• Restricted funds

• Sinking funds

• Bonds

• Grants

• Foundations

• Fund-raisers

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Budget-Development Process

• Six steps– Planning– Preparation– Implementation– Monitoring– Evaluating– Revising

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Purchasing Process

• Personnel who may be responsible

• Large organizations may have internal purchasing capabilities

• Small organizations may rely on centralized purchasing department

• Required characteristics

(Continued)

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Purchasing Process

• Purchasing process steps:– Determine needs.– Conduct research.– Evaluate equipment.– Review product data.– Conduct purchasing process.

(Continued)

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Purchasing Process

• Purchasing process steps:– Determine funding sources.– Create bid specifications.– Evaluate and score proposals.– Award purchase contract.

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Summary

• The company officer must be familiar with the concepts of the budgeting and purchasing functions.

• The company officer must know the authority having jurisdiction’s specific policies and procedures for budgeting and purchasing.

• These functions are as important and as necessary as those encountered at emergency scenes.

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Discussion Questions

1.Why should policies and procedures be considered dynamic documents?

2.Why is it important for all managing company officers to have a substantial knowledge of the budget process that applies to their organizations?

3.Explain why the purchasing function is as important as the functions encountered at emergency incidents.