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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY 2002 Budget ProcessBudget Process The Town of Lexington operates under state statutes and the Town Charter as amended to establish the Selectmen - Town Manager form of government. The legislative body of Lexington is a representative Town Meeting comprised of approximately 200 elected Town Meeting Members. Town Meeting has the sole authority to appropriate funds for the operating budget and capital projects. Under the amended Town Charter, the Town Manager is required to submit a proposed budget to the Board of Selectmen. The Selectmen in turn are required to transmit to the Appropriation and Capital Expenditures committees a copy of the Town Manager's Budget together with their recommendations. Finally, the Appropriations and Capital Expenditures committees must each make budget recommendations to Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen's Recommended Budget contains estimated expenditures and revenues for all departments, committees and functions that are funded by property taxes or fees that the Town charges for various services. This document details actual expenditures for the prior year, adjusted appropriation figures for the current fiscal year and projected revenues and expenditures for the budget year (i.e. the year for which appropriations are proposed). There are three categories of funds: the General Fund, Enterprise Funds and Special Revenue Funds. Balance sheets for each fund are provided in the Revenue section of the budget. Process The Town Manager's recent practice has been to encourage greater citizen participation by having department heads review their budget requests at meetings of the Board of Selectmen starting in November. Feedback from citizens as well as the Board can thus be taken into consideration in preparing the Town Manager's proposals. If the Manager's proposed budget has the support of the Board at the time it is transmitted to the finance committees, the document is produced as the "Board of Selectmen's Recommended Budget". A month before Town Meeting, this budget is distributed to the Selectmen, relevant committees, and Town Meeting Members, it is also available to citizens at the Library and the Town Manager's Office. Prior to the first session of the annual Town Meeting, all Lexington households are mailed a copy of the Town Warrant containing a draft of all financial and non - financial articles to be considered by Town Meeting. Generally, the annual Town Meeting begins in March with meetings held on weekday evenings. Town Meeting considers the Town Manager's Budget and the recommendations of the Selectmen, Appropriation Committee and Capital Expenditures Committee and votes on final appropriation amounts after making any amendments it deems appropriate -- within the constraints of Proposition 2'/ and balanced budget requirements. The precise timing of the process varies somewhat from year to year. The figure on the proceeding page depicts the process for FY2002 budget development. The Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen are responsible for making recommendations for all Town programs, including School programs. As such, great pains have been made to create a process so as to include the School Committee and School staff in the decision making process. In that regard, the Board of Selectmen and School Committee met in a joint goal setting in early summer and on five other occasions in work sessions that provided policy guidance to both Town and School staff in developing this budget. The work product represented within this document is the result of this collaborative process (diagrammed and listed on the previous page.) Only Town Meeting can amend the budget after adoption. Typically, the adopted budget is amended at the next Town Meeting. Three articles within the warrant are generally utilized: • `Supplementary Appropriationsfor Current Fiscal Year' — This is an annual article to permit adjustments to current fiscal year (FY2001) expenditures. • `Prior Year's Unpaid Bills' —This is an annual article to request funds to pay bills received after the close of the fiscal year in which the goods were received or the services performed, and for which no money was encumbered. • `Supplementary Appropriationsfor Authorized Capital lmpravementProjects' —This is an annual article to request funds for capital improvement project expenditures that exceed the level of appropriation. If it is necessary to amend the budget after adoption prior to the Annual Town Meeting, a special Town Meeting must be called.