Budget Season 2012 is Almost Here
Articles: Government Related, Latest News
Time always seems to fly by. It’s hard to realize it’s already time to begin thinking about the 2012 budget season.
Creating a budget for your local governmental entity and getting it adopted and approved is a difficult undertaking during best of times, but the process has taken on several new layers of complexity in the past few years. Successfully navigating the budget adoption process in today’s challenging environment requires a coordinated effort among the many parties involved in the budgeting process.
Unfortunately, some local governmental units became examples last year of what can happen when communication and cooperation breaks down. Many local governmental units found themselves scrambling when they received their 2010 Budget Orders, because the Budget Orders limited them to their 2009 certified levies and budgets.
Even though these taxing units followed the timetable provided by statute, it resulted in adopting budgets prior to receiving their non-binding review from the County Council. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) took exception to budgets that were adopted prior to the review. As a result, some of these entities have had to deal with 2011 certified levies and budgets that were lower than what they otherwise would have received.
At a minimum, the results created a headache for each unit to deal with. At its most extreme, the lower levies created a budget crunch at the local level.
Fortunately, legislative initiatives were adopted this year to keep taxing units from permanently losing any of their certified levy.
It’s a tough lesson to learn if your carefully prepared budget gets thrown out on a technicality. The problems encountered with the 2010 budget season underscore the importance of communication, collaboration and cooperation when it comes to adopting budgets under the current requirements. They also remind us of the importance of planning and following a timetable that allows adequate time for each step of budget creation, review, adoption and approval and a checklist to assure that every required step takes place in the proper order.
If you have questions about the budgeting process, please contact us at footnotes@umbaugh.com.
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Information in this article was believed current as of the date of publication. As you know, changes occur frequently. The information presented is of a general educational nature. Before applying to your specific circumstances, please contact us at footnotes@umbaugh.com.