Budget as a Policy Document
A local government like the Dallas City
Council is different from other higher levels of government such as the federal
in that it has few opportunities of selling its policies to the stakeholders
(Campenni & Khan, p.298). A budget document
is one of those few opportunities for the city to make its policies known. A
number of essentials are required for the document to meet the criterion of a
policy documents.
First, the documents should state the long
term budgetary goals of the city. The document under analysis illustrates an
entity committed to a balanced budget (Dallas City Council, 2012). It is
explicitly stated in the document that operating within resources is a key
commitment of the budget documents. This is further bolstered by the statement
on guiding principles and development goals. Thus, the city operates on a
principle geared towards broadening the tax base through investments in
infrastructure.
It is also important for a budget document
doubling up as a policy document to explain the process leading to its
formulation and approval (Dallas City Council, 2012). The City of Dallas budget
document attempts to achieve this goal by providing a brief explanation of the
process. For example, one going through the document would discover that there
are four main steps in the process of which adoption is the last one. A
successful attempt was also made to include important dates. The presentation
of a detailed budget process calendar is a clear illustration of this.
Tied to the above thresholds is the ability
of the budget document to provide an outline of the basic goals of the
government. It is unfortunate that the Dallas budget document does not meet
this key requirement. One can only glean the goals of government after going
through the whole document.
Budget as a Financial Plan
Stakeholders of a local government like
Dallas city are constantly in need of the tools to assess the effectiveness of
the city management. It is a requirement that only an adequate supply of
information can meet (Campenni & Khan, 299). An overview of the financial
resources of the entity is an example of some of that information. The approved
document provides a summary of this information in an appendix. Thus, one gets
to know that property taxes are one of the major revenue sources under the
general fund. Other revenue sources identified are from ambulance and
sanitation. One can fault Dallas city budget for not giving the exact figures
expected from each category of these revenue sources. Simply telling a
stakeholder that the city charges $ 800 for ambulance services may not be very
useful for efficiency assessments (Dallas City Council, 2012).
A budget document as a financial document
must also provide the readers with some basis for historical comparison
(Campenni & Khan, 299). One should be able to compare the document with
figures for both prior years and the current year. Historical comparison
feature throughout Dallas Budget document. An example is the presentation of
the budget with respect to the City’s Focus area number 1 where figures are
presented for both fiscal years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 respectively.
Besides merely presenting a summary of major
revenue sources, the document must also proceed to discuss the same noting to
state any assumptions and trends. The appendix earlier mentioned provides some
detailed discussion of major revenue sources (Dallas City Council, 2012). Private
Disposal Revenue is an example of sources accorded detailed discussion in the
appendix. It is through that discussion that one gets to know that Dallas city
charges commercial haulers of waste into McCommas Bluff Landfill.
Furthermore, there is a need for the document
to touch of changes in fund balances as well as how deficits or surpluses are
to be dealt with. Dallas budget document uses a table to present fund projected
changes in fund balances. The listed fund balances include those of the General
Fund, internal service funds as well as other revenue funds. There is, however,
no attempt at discussing the revenue funds. Besides, some funds show deficit
balances but the document makes no mention of how to deal with them. For
example, employee benefits begin and end with a negative balance (Dallas City
Council, 2012).
Budget as an Operations Guide
A budget document also acts as guide into how
the given entity operates (Campenni & Khan, p.300). Thus, people unfamiliar
with Dallas City should be able to have an idea of how it operates from a
cursory reading of the budget document. One way to attain this is for a budget
document to contain some form of a chart outlining the structure of the
organization. The City of Dallas has recognized the significance of this
requirement as exhibited in the inclusion of an organization chart within the
budget document. Important offices depicted in the chart include that of the
City Manager as well as the different Assistant City Managers responsible for
specific responsibility areas (Dallas City Council, 2012).Thus, there is an
Assistant City Manager specifically responsible for sanitation and other
services. Another one is responsible for aviation among other services. In
addition to an organizational chart, a good budget document should be able to
render some discussion of personnel. Dallas City budget document fails to live
to this important requirement as no attempt is made at discussing personnel or
staffing.
Furthermore, a budget document functioning as
an operation guide should give a snapshot of key units in the organization as
well as their functions (Dallas City Council, 2012). Dallas budget document
provides an excessive amount of this information in a tabular form relating to
the all departments and the services under them. Presenting this information
only in complex tabular details without a simplified summary makes it difficult
for some citizens to understand.
Budget as a Communications Device
A look at the Dallas City budget document
indicates several instances in which attempts are made at communication. Some
of those attempts actually succeed while others do not. For one, the document
has tried to make it easy to understand by providing summaries and overviews of
some of the information it contains (Dallas City Council, 2012). Instances of
summaries and overviews include the executive summary written by the City
Manager and directed to the members of the council. The inclusion of charts in
the document in various places also helps citizens to easily comprehend key
features of the document without having to dig deeper. The executive summary
near the beginning of the document contain three such charts. Other charts are placed towards the end. The document also enhances its communicative
function through the appendix section. For instance, there is an appendix
containing a glossary of some key terms such as Ad Volerem Tax.
References
Campenni,M.,& Khan, A.Budget Analysis: A Study of Budgetary Practices of a Small Community.
Dallas City Council, (September 19, 2012).Annual Budget for
Fiscal Year-2013: October 1, 2012-September
30, 2013.
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