dc budget process2012-020212

1

Start here

Budget instructions amp targets OBP prepares instructions for agency budget devel-opment for the following fiscal year The executive develops agency budget targets

Agency restructuring Agencies may reorganize the agency They must

enter changes into the online budget system

July

Budget instructions amp targets cont See July for information

Agency restructuring cont See July for information

Agency deadline for obligating funds With some exceptions agencies stop

spending in current fiscal year

Agency restructuring cont See July for information

Budget kickoff Agencies receive instructions from OBP and targets from EOM

Agencies develop budget submissions Agencies prepare operating and capital budget sub-missions for following fiscal year

Fiscal year ends Current year ends September 30

Revenue estimates OCFO releases quarterly estimates for a five-year

period including the current fiscal year

Congress may approve budget

August September

There are a number of steps along the way that may happen over periods of time or in one month or an-other To save space they are listed here and shown in

the process only once Congress may approve the budget

Mayor addresses spending pressures (if necessary)

Mayor and DC Council revise current fiscal year

budget (if necessary) The mayor may implement a spending freeze Development and publication of CSFL

DC

Bu

dg

et P

roce

ss

Advocacy opportunities

Talk with EOM about making fundamental

changes to the budget including reallocating resources across clustersbudget titles

Talk with EOM about making changes to one

-time funding allocations Talk with EOM and deputy mayors (if appro-

priate) about implementing outcome meas-ures make recommendations about useful

measures Do budget analysis of specific issues to make

the case for your ideas for the next fiscal year (two years away)

2

Agencies develop budget submissions cont See September for information

Capital budget meetings OBP meets with agencies and clusters to develop request parameters goals and priorities

Fiscal year begins New year begins October 1

Continuing Resolution (CR) If Congress does not approve DC budget by start of year they may approve CR This limits what can be spent

Mayor and DC Council revise current fiscal year budget (if necessary)

October


Operating budget submissions due

Budgets may be due in November or December

Capital budget submissions due


November




Capital budget BRTs

Revenue estimates See September for information

Mayor implements spending freeze to current year budget (if necessary) Depending on revenue and spending patterns the mayor may freeze certain kinds of spending for all or

some government agencies

Council votes on budget requirements for next fiscal year (legislation)

December Advocacy opportunities

Talk with agencies about funding and num-

bers served in operating budget Talk with EOM agencies and deputy mayors

(if appropriate) about the capital budget Keep in touch with mayorrsquos budget office

about implementation of the budget with fo-cus on spending pressures etc

Give suggestions to DC Council budget office

and chairman about budget requirements for the next fiscal year

3

Current Services Funding Level (CSFL) released OBP scrubs budget submissions to ensure they comply with the in-

structions and eliminates redundancies and verifies costs

Budget scrubbing OBP projects spending for the next fiscal year based on current year programs

BRTs OBP EOM and agencies meet to review the submission and discuss

policy initiatives and cost saving proposals

Council approves performance oversight and budget hearing sched-ules

Council develops budget priorities The Council prioritizes its policy and thus budget goals for the year

The list is used during budget deliberations

DC Council committees submit advance questions to agencies for per-formance oversight hearings

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) released The CAFR is the cityrsquos official annual audit and is released by the CFO

Mayor develops budget proposal The mayor considers CSFL and BRT results and makes modifications based on his policy goals and cityrsquos financial situation During this time the performance measures are finalized

Agency performance oversight hearings The Council holds hearings to assess past and current performance of government agencies the public may testify

Revenue estimates The quarterly estimate is released The February estimates are the official binding revenue estimate that is used

to develop the budget for the next fiscal year1


Keep in touch with mayorrsquos budget office re

spending pressures etc Give questions related to current and past

year agency performance to appropriate council committee

Share your budget policy and program rec-

ommendations with EOM and the DC Council Work with others who have the same priori-

ties Share ideas with othersmdashjournalists blog-

gers on your web site or blog etc Provide information on needs examples of

similar initiatives in other jurisdictions etc to EOM and DC Council

Testify at performance oversight hearings

Prepare clients to testify at performance

oversight hearings

January

February

4

Mayor develops budget proposal cont See February for information

Pencils down for Mayorrsquos next fiscal year budget EOM and OBP finish budget Date depends on release date set by DC Council (see December)

Mayor proposes supplemental current year budget (if necessary) Development depends on spending pressures revenue and other considerations May also happen in other months

Agency performance oversight hearings cont See February for information

DC Council committees submit advance questions re next budget to agencies

Mayor releases next fiscal yearrsquos budget Release date dependent on requirements set by DC Council (see December)

March


Budget hearings The DC Council holds public hearings the public may testify

April



ommendations with EOM and the DC Coun-cil Provide information on needs examples of similar initiatives in other jurisdictions

etc Work with others who have the same priori-


gers on your website or blog etc Prepare clients to testify at budget hearings

Testify at budget hearings

5

Budget hearings cont See April for information

DC Council-EOM negotiations EOM responds to budget changes put forth by the DC Council

Budget markups Council committees mark-up the proposed budget

DC Council votes on BRA and BSA The council votes on the BRA This is the first and only vote on this legislation The council also takes the first of two votes on

the BSA

DC Council-EOM negotiations cont See May for more information

DC Council votes on BSA The Council holds second of two votes on the BSA

Mayor signs or vetoes budget legislation The mayor signs the Budget Request Act and Budget Support

Act and sends to the President who forwards to Congress

May

June

Start all o

ver mdash go

back to Ju

ly Advocacy opportunities

Stay in touch with DC Council

members and staff along with EOM to move your agenda

6

BRA Budget Request Act The Home Rule Act2 prescribes a process for the District to

pass an annual budget The District uses the BRA as the vehicle to comply with the Charter and transmit the cityrsquos

plan to the President of the United States The legislation must specify the agencies and purposes for which funds are being requested3

BRT Budget Review Team The Budget Review Team (BRT) is a collective of represen-tatives from the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM) and

or Office of the City Administrator (OCA) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) and District agencies under

the Mayorrsquos authority The purpose of the BRT meeting is to review agency budget submissions in a given fiscal year and consider all information needed to recommend to

the Mayor a proposed budget for each agency Each BRT meeting is a piece of the puzzle that brings together the entire District budget The results of the BRTs directly

affect the Mayorrsquos budget submission4

The public is not allowed to participate in the BRTs Materi-als generated specifically for BRTs are considered work product and thus not released to the public

BSA Budget Support Act This legislation incorporates any policy modifications re-

quiring a change in law

CFOOCFO Chief Financial OfficerOffice of the Chief Fi-nancial Officer The CFO is responsible for the oversight and direct super-

vision of the financial and budgetary functions of the Dis-trict government including maintaining a financial man-agement system and managing the cityrsquos borrowing and

debt5

OBP Office of Budget and Planning

OBP is one division of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) OBP prepares monitors analyzes and executes the Districts budget including operating capital and enter-

prise funds in a manner that ensures fiscal integrity and maximizes service to taxpayers6

PS NPS Personal Services Nonpersonal Services Personal Services are those related to DC government agency staffingmdashnamely salaries and benefits

Nonpersonal Services is a budget category that includes ex-penditures not related to personnel NPS includes supplies

utilities technology rent and equipment NPS also includes contracts and grants which do contain salaries and benefits

But these salaries and benefits are not associated with DC government staff

Acronyms

Endnotes 1 Office of the Chief Financial Officer Tax Rates and Revenues Revenue Estimates httpcfodcgovcfocwp

viewa1324q612671asp 2 httpwwwdccouncilwashingtondcuspagesdc-home-rule 3 District of Columbia Home Rule Act (amended through March 13

2009) Public Law 93-198 87 Stat 774 DC Official Code sect 1-20101 et seq Approved December 24 1973 Revised November 1 2008 online

httpwwwdccouncilwashingtondcuspagesdc-home-rule p 28 4 Office of the Chief Financial Officer Draft FY 2012 Operating

Budget Manual November 5 2010 p 37 5 Office of the Chief Financial Officer About the CFO httpcfodcgovcfocwp

viewa1327q591020cfoNav|33299|asp 6 Office of the Chief Financial Officer About the OCFO Central Fi-nancial Operations

httpcfodcgovcfocwpviewa1327q591013asp

7

This and that The comment period for committee budget hearings is

compressed It is only a few days (The comment period for regular hearings is usually a week or 10 days)

In the budget books the Districts budget is presented in

tables that track appropriations and expenditures by divi-

sion control center and object class Strictly speaking the only line items in the Districts budget are the fig-ures that appear in the Budget Request Act The mayor

holds a line-item veto authority with respect to these fig-ures and the Council may override the mayors line-item

veto The city has moved to a Division-Based Structure that

better reflects the way agencies operate It is illustrated here

Where to find things The mayorrsquos budget proposal is posted online in the

hours following the transmittal to the Council It can be found here dcgov andor budgetdcgov Hard copies of

the budget are generally not given to the public The Mayorrsquos Office of Budget and FinanceOCAOBP may make CD-ROMs available

Revenue estimates These are found in the Tax Rates

and Revenues section of cfodcgov Approved and prior year budgets budgetdcgov and

in the Annual Operating Budget and Capital Plan section

of cfodcgov Which Council committee is responsible for over-

seeing which executive branch agencies This infor-mation is in the Council rules The rules are online in the

City Councilrsquos Legislative Information Management Sys-tem (LIMS) as PR(CPnumber)-0001 The organizational rules are always the first resolution of the CP

Current Services Funding Level This is posted on the

CFO website (cfodcgov)

Created by Susie Cambria MSW Public Policy Consultant You can get in touch with Susie via email secambriagmailcom or phone (301)

832-2339 Read her bloghttpsusiecambriablogspotcom

DC Budget Process by Suzanne Cambria is li-censed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 30 United States

Publication date February 2 2012 (edited)

2


Capital budget meetings OBP meets with agencies and clusters to develop request parameters goals and priorities

Fiscal year begins New year begins October 1

Continuing Resolution (CR) If Congress does not approve DC budget by start of year they may approve CR This limits what can be spent

Mayor and DC Council revise current fiscal year budget (if necessary)

October




Capital budget submissions due


November




Capital budget BRTs

Revenue estimates See September for information

Mayor implements spending freeze to current year budget (if necessary) Depending on revenue and spending patterns the mayor may freeze certain kinds of spending for all or

some government agencies

Council votes on budget requirements for next fiscal year (legislation)

December Advocacy opportunities

Talk with agencies about funding and num-

bers served in operating budget Talk with EOM agencies and deputy mayors

(if appropriate) about the capital budget Keep in touch with mayorrsquos budget office

about implementation of the budget with fo-cus on spending pressures etc

Give suggestions to DC Council budget office

and chairman about budget requirements for the next fiscal year

3


























oversight hearings

January

February

4







March



April








5





the BSA





May

June

Start all o

ver mdash go

back to Ju




6














debt5








Acronyms








7
























3


























oversight hearings

January

February

4







March



April








5





the BSA





May

June

Start all o

ver mdash go

back to Ju




6














debt5








Acronyms








7
























4







March



April








5





the BSA





May

June

Start all o

ver mdash go

back to Ju




6














debt5








Acronyms








7
























5





the BSA





May

June

Start all o

ver mdash go

back to Ju




6














debt5








Acronyms








7
























6














debt5








Acronyms








7
























7
























dc budget process2012-020212

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