Title
Chief Administrative Office recommending the Board:
1) Review and Accept the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Master Budget Calendar; and
2) Appoint two members to the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Budget Ad Hoc Committee. (Est. Time: 10 Min.)
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
FY 2020-21 Master Budget Calendar
The Master Budget Calendar guides the timeline for development of the Recommended and Adopted Budgets, as well as the close-out of the prior year. As part of the FY 2017-18 budget development, the Chief Administrative Office included additional meetings to ensure adequate and timely communication of budget requests and major policy and funding issues to and between County Departments, the Chief Administrative Office, and the Board of Supervisors. These meetings are scheduled again for the FY 2020-21 budget development process, as highlighted below.
It is recommended that the series of Department presentations be scheduled again for FY 2020-21. These presentations will be held within existing Board meeting dates during January and February, allowing each Department approximately 10 minutes to provide a brief overview of its programs. These briefings are intended to focus on programs, requirements, and challenges, and are not meant to be discussions on budget needs or requests.
The FY 2020-21 budget development process incorporates the new functionality of the 2019 FENIX budget module that is going live in November 2019. The proposed dates for the creation of budget projections and the budget workshop have been adjusted to accommodate the switch to FENIX 2019. Staff have tested the update and revised all training materials to the new functionality.
This year, the Chief Administrative Office is planning on Departments submitting completed budget requests on February 21, 2020, essentially the same due date as the prior year. It is important to note that based on the way the FENIX Budget Module operates, work on subsequent phases of the Budget development cannot move forward until all Budget Requests are submitted and entered into the budget system. This is different from the prior budget system and had required changes to the process for producing the Adopted Budget.
It is intended that Functional Group Budget Meetings will be scheduled during the week of March 16, 2020.
A Board of Supervisors Special Meeting, which is held to discuss the progress on the development of the Recommended Budget and seek further guidance, as necessary, on Board priorities for funding, is tentatively planned for April 13, 2020.
It is anticipated that the Recommended Budget will be publicly available on or before May 26, 2020. The Recommended Budget is required to be made available to the public for two weeks prior to the Budget Hearing.
It is recommended that the Public Hearing to consider the Recommended Budget (Budget Hearing) be held Monday, June 8, 2020. It will still be necessary for staff to bring year-end fund balance budget adjustments to the Board for consideration and approval in September, following the close of the FY 2019-20 books; however, holding the Budget Hearing in June will align that discussion with the release and consideration of the Recommended Budget, prior to its approval. The Recommended Budget is required by statute to be approved on or before June 30 of each year.
Appointments to the FY 2020-21 Budget Ad Hoc Committee
For the past two years, the Board has appointed two members to sit as the annual Budget Ad Hoc Committee. It is recommended that the Board consider and select two members to serve on that Committee for the development of the FY 2020-21 Budget. The practice has been to appoint the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board of Supervisors; however, the Board may select any two of the five members.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
All Departments participate in the budget development process.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
None
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance
CONTACT
Don Ashton, Chief Administrative Officer
Shawne Corley, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer