Download - 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
Agencies develop budget submissions cont See September for information
Operating budget submissions due
Budgets may be due in November or December
Capital budget submissions due
Mayor addresses spending pressures (if necessary)
November
Agencies develop budget submissions cont See September for information
Operating budget submissions due
Budgets may be due in November or December
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
Advocacy opportunities
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
Mayor releases next fiscal yearrsquos budget Release date dependent on requirements set by DC Council (see December)
Budget hearings The DC Council holds public hearings the public may testify
April
Advocacy opportunities
Share your budget policy and program rec-
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-
ties Share ideas with othersmdashjournalists blog-
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
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
Agencies develop budget submissions cont See September for information
Operating budget submissions due
Budgets may be due in November or December
Capital budget submissions due
Mayor addresses spending pressures (if necessary)
November
Agencies develop budget submissions cont See September for information
Operating budget submissions due
Budgets may be due in November or December
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
Advocacy opportunities
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
Mayor releases next fiscal yearrsquos budget Release date dependent on requirements set by DC Council (see December)
Budget hearings The DC Council holds public hearings the public may testify
April
Advocacy opportunities
Share your budget policy and program rec-
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-
ties Share ideas with othersmdashjournalists blog-
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)
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
Advocacy opportunities
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
Mayor releases next fiscal yearrsquos budget Release date dependent on requirements set by DC Council (see December)
Budget hearings The DC Council holds public hearings the public may testify
April
Advocacy opportunities
Share your budget policy and program rec-
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-
ties Share ideas with othersmdashjournalists blog-
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)
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
Mayor releases next fiscal yearrsquos budget Release date dependent on requirements set by DC Council (see December)
Budget hearings The DC Council holds public hearings the public may testify
April
Advocacy opportunities
Share your budget policy and program rec-
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-
ties Share ideas with othersmdashjournalists blog-
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)
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)
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)
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)