1. New County Officer’s School
Budgeting Beyond the Basics
January 16, 2019
Dawn Jindrich, CPA
Linn County Budget Director

2. Agenda Budget Process Policy Integration Financial Planning
Operational Planning
Budgeting for Outcomes
Communication

3. Budget Process Budget Calendar Requirements Planning
Review of Requests
Final Decisions
Public Hearing

4. Mission Statement/Goals Strategic Initiatives Action Plans Budget
Policy Integration
Mission Statement/Goals Strategic Initiatives Action Plans Budget

5. Policy Integration Current Year Policies Strategic Initiatives
Valuation Growth
Legislative Changes
Cost of Labor
Economic Factors

6. Financial Planning Classes of Expenditures Wages and benefits
Operations - minor purchases and services
Capital Outlay - Capital asset acquisitions

7. Financial Planning Service Areas Public Safety & Legal Services
Physical Health & Social Services
Mental Health, ID & DD
County Environment
Roads & Transportation
Government Services to Residents
Administration
Non-program
Debt Service
Capital Projects

8. Financial Planning Public Safety & Legal Services Law Enforcement
Legal Services and Courts
Emergency Services
Physical Health & Social Services
Physical Health Services
Services to Poor Programs
Services to Military Veterans
Children’s & Family Services
Elderly Services
Chemical Dependency

9. Financial Planning
Mental Health, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities
Mental Health/Mental Illness
Intellectual Disabilities
Other Developmental Disabilities
General Administration
County Provided Case Management
County Provided Services
Brain Injury

10. Financial Planning County Environment & Education
Environmental Quality Program
Conservation and Recreation Services
Animal Control
County Development (Planning & Zoning)
Educational Services (Libraries, Historic, Fairs)
Roads & Transportation
Secondary Roads Administration/Engineering
Roadway Maintenance
General Roadway Expenditures
Mass Transit

11. Financial Planning Government Services to Residents
Elections, Township Officials
Motor Vehicles, Drivers Licensing
Recording of Public Documents
Administration
Policy and Administration, Treasury Management
Central Services, IT, GIS
Risk Management, Liability, Workers Compensation

12. Financial Planning Long Term Debt General Obligations Bonds
Revenue Bonds
Loans
Lease-Purchase Payments
Capital Projects
Buildings or Improvements
Roads and Bridges
Equipment or Technology Acquisitions

13. Financial Planning General Basic
Limited to $3.50 per thousand of taxable valuation
General Supplemental
Uses defined in Section of the Code of Iowa

14. Financial Planning Special Revenue Funds MHDS Services Rural Basic
Rural Supplemental
Secondary Roads – 75% of max for RUTF
Recorder’s Records Management
Local Option Sales Tax (LOST)

15. Financial Planning Debt Service Fund
General obligation bond payments are accounted for through the debt service fund
Tax increment financing valuation included
Legal debt limit is 5% of actual valuation
Capital Projects Fund
Transfers from General Fund
Bond issue proceeds

16. Financial Planning Fund Balance Levels Cash Flow Needs
Accuracy of Projections
Fiscal Policies
Use of Fund Balance
Recurring
Non-recurring

17. Financial Planning Legislative Concerns:
Commercial & Industrial Backfill
Business Property Tax – Capped at $125M
Multi-Residential Rollback
% %
% %
% %
% = residential rollback

18. Operational Planning
Define activities or services by organizational units - departmental goals
Measure results of units or programs by objective methods - performance measures
Review staffing levels by department or program and for overall organization

19. Operational Planning Elected Officials and Boards: Attorney §331.751
Auditor §
Board of Supervisors §
Recorder §
Sheriff §
Treasurer §
Conservation Board §350
Board of Health §137
Veteran Affairs Commission §35(B)

20. Operational Planning County Departments: Civil Service
Community Services
Engineer
Human Resources
Information Technology
Facilities/Maintenance
Medical Examiner
Planning and Zoning
Other

21. Operational Planning Non-County Departments: Assessor
District Court Administration
Juvenile Court Services
E911
Emergency Management
Human Services Administration
Solid Waste Management

22. Budgeting for Outcomes
Background
How does BFO work?
Offers
Rankings
Implementation

23. Budget Balancing – Old Ideas
Hiring freezes
Depleting reserves
Delayed capital replacement
Deferred maintenance
Furloughs
Across-the-board cuts

24. Traditional Budgeting
Start with last year’s budget, add costs for current needs,
calculate new budget, decide it’s too high, cut costs from new budget
Departments have incentive to build up costs
Elected officials choose to cut services or raise taxes and get blamed either way
Goals: being “fair,” avoiding painful decisions, getting it done

25. Traditional Budgeting
Departments focus on internal programs and goals rather than on overall organizational strategic goals
Departmental issues are everyone’s primary concern
Difficult for departments to get additional funding, discouraged by budget staff
Departments compete for funding - no incentive for cooperation

26. Budgeting for Outcomes
Addresses fiscal constraints including:
Limits on expenditures
Decreases in revenues
Focus is on productive use of revenues
Programs funded are most likely to achieve strategic goals

27. Budgeting for Outcomes – 8 Steps
Determine how much money is available
Set high level priorities
Allocate available money to priorities
Determine what strategies will best achieve results
Budget available dollars
Set measures of progress
Review what actually happened
Communicate performance results

28. Budgeting for Outcomes – Step 1
Determine how much money is available
Property taxes, excise taxes, other tax revenues
Interest on investments
Jail fees and revenues
Recording of documents, motor vehicles, other fees
State and federal grants

29. Budgeting for Outcomes – Steps 2-4
Set high level priorities
Base on strategic plan
Communicate to individuals responsible for
developing offers
Allocate available money to priorities
How much is each priority worth?
Determine what strategies or programs will best achieve results
Net cost determined for every program or offer
Rank offers

30. Budgeting for Outcomes – Steps 5-8
Budget available dollars
Set measures of progress
Use performance measures or key performance indicators
Review what actually happened
Discuss results and compare to original commitment
Communicate performance results

31. Budgeting for Outcomes - Offers
Key components of offers:
Link to a strategic priority, identify other priorities offer addresses
Describe and justify
Identify 2 or 3 performance measures
Describe needed resources (FTEs, dollars)
Include collaboration or partnerships
Describe consequences of offer not funded

32. Budgeting for Outcomes -Rankings
Where is the best return on investment?
One-time or ongoing cost
What offer is most likely to achieve the priority?
Rank offers
Fund with available revenues – total amount is the limit
Only those “above the line” make it in to the budget
Keep everyone involved in the process
Discuss decisions
Communicate results

33. Implementation Issues
Training
Forms
Funding
Allocate by priority?
What about mandates?
Who ranks the offers?
Technical Issues
Ranking of offers
How does this work with the line items in a budget?
Make the budgeting process your own!

34. Assessing Readiness Have you identified your strategic goals?
Do you have the time and ability?
Are the organizational decision makers on board?
Is your organization comfortable with change?

35. Communication Budget Hearing Overview of issues and choices
Charts and graphs are useful
Provide copies of CIP
Impact to taxpayers
Identify significant changes

36. County of Linn, Iowa Fiscal 2019 Budget
Public Hearing
March 14, 2018

37. BUDGET SUMMARY
Countywide levy rate: $5.84, a reduction of $0.30 from FY 18 due to mental health fund decrease. Rural rate remains unchanged at $2.71. Rural levy rate includes a reduction of $1.00 for rural residents from Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) allocation.
Impact to homeowner: decrease of 7% for city residents and 6% for rural residents
Commercial and industrial property taxes: 5% decrease due to $0.30 levy rate reduction
Farmland taxes will increase 11% due to the agricultural rollback, offsetting the countywide levy rate decrease
Property taxes levied: $66 million, a decrease of $0.2 million or 0.4% from FY 18 due to reduction in mental health levy

38. BUDGET SUMMARY (continued)
Wage increases for non-bargaining unit budgeted at 3.0%. Bargaining unit increases are 2.4% for AFSCME and Conservation, PPME will receive 2.75% increases and attorneys (IBEW) will average a 4.36% increase.
No change in health and dental insurance rates.
Budget of $118.0 million, an increase of $6.6 million primarily in public safety, mental health and debt service.
LOST projects budgeted at $3.0 million for road construction, $1.5 million for Conservation projects, and $1.5 million applied to property tax relief in the rural fund.
Approved offers of $1.5 million included in FY 19 budget.

39. Budget Initiatives Reduce mental health fund balance
Countywide levy rate reduction due to mental health levy
General fund ending balance of 25%
Wage increases funded for existing staff
No increase in operations
Offer process for additional funding requests

40. Countywide Taxable Valuation Growth

41. Rural Taxable Valuation Growth

42. Composition of Taxable Values

43. Residential Rollback

44. Revenues by Source

45. Expenditures by Service Area

46. Combined Tax Rate – Actual FY 18

47. Fund Balance - General Fund

48. Personnel Positions