HomeMy WebLinkAboutx.APPENDIX C
2003 Final Budaet
Appendix
APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
This glossary identifies terms used in this budget. Accounting terms are defined in general, non-
technical terms. Fore more precise definitions of these terms, the reader should refer to the State BARS
manual.
Account: A record of additions, deletions, and balances of individual assets, liabilities, equity,
revenues and expenses.
Accrual Basis: Refers to the accounting of revenues and expenditures on the basis of when they
are incurred or committed, rather than when they are made or received. All funds except
the governmental funds are accounted on this basis and the governmental funds are
accounted on a modified accrual basis.
Administrative or Support Departments: Refers to organizational units or departments which primarily
provide services to other departments or divisions. These departments include:
Mayor and Council: Provides overall administration to the entire City. Also includes
expenses related to the operation of the Council.
Personnel: Provides centralized personnel services to all City services. Also includes
Civil Service which applies to Police and Fire Services.
Finance: Provides centralized financial services to all City departments. Also provides
a variety of other central administrative service including printing, data processing, and
billing of City utilities.
City Attorney: Provides centralized legal services to all City services.
BARS:
Budgeting, Accounting & Reporting System. Refers to the accounting rules established by
the State Auditor's Office.
Baseline Budget: The baseline budget consists of budget proposals which would be sufficient to
maintain the operation of programs which had been previously, in earlier budgets,
authorized.
Capital Project Construction Funds (Series 300 Funds): A type of fund which accounts for major
general government construction projects financed by long-term general obligations.
These funds correspond to the Debt Service Funds in the 200 series.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): A grant received annually by the City from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development. While included in the budget for
accounting purposes, specific allocation of these funds occurs in a separate process.
Councilmanic Bonds:
General Obligation bonds authorized by the City Council.
Current Expense Fund:
See General Fund.
Debt Service:
Interest and principal payments on debt.
Debt Service Funds (Series 200 Funds): A type of fund which accounts for the payment of
outstanding long-term general obligations of the City.
Page 273
2003 Final Budaet
Appendix
Department: Refers to an organizational unit. In Auburn, it refers to eight such units: Mayor &
Council, Personnel Department, Finance Department, Legal Department (or City Attorney),
Planning and Community Development, Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works
Department, and Parks and Recreation Department (see administrative and line
departments for descriptions). May be composed of one or more organizational units
referred to as Divisions. (This term may also be found to include Divisions which previously
were Departments although now should be divisions. There are two such units which are
budgeted as though they were departments; the Library and Street Departments).
Designated Fund Balance: A portion of the General Fund balance which had been designated
by past Council action as reserved for specific purposes.
Department Head: One of the eight directors of a department.
Division: Refers to an organizational unit below that of Department. All of the proprietary funds are
administered as a Division, although sometimes referred to as Departments because of
their status as such in a previous administration.
Enterprise Funds (Series 400 Funds): A type of proprietary fund which contains activities which
are operated in a manner similar to private businesses. In Auburn, the Enterprise Funds
account for the City's utilities, the Cemetery, the Golf Course, and the Airport.
ESA: The Endangered Species Act provides for the designation and protection of invertebrates,
wildlife, fish and plant species that are in danger of becoming extinct and mandate
conservation of the ecosystems in which endangered species depend.
Fund:
A self-balancing group of accounts which includes both revenues and expenditures.
Fiduciary Funds: A group of funds which accounts for funds held by the City as a trustee.
GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are standards used for accounting and reporting
for both private industry and governments.
General Fund (Fund 001): A specific fund which accounts tax supported activities of the City and
other types of activities not elsewhere accounted. In the City budget, this fund is divided
into departments. Sometimes it may be referred to as the Current Expense Fund. The
General Fund is a Governmental Fund.
General Obligations (Debt): Refers to a type of debt which is secured by means of the tax base
of the City or obligations against which the full faith and credit of the City was pledged.
Includes debt incurred by three different circumstances: 1) Debt incurred by the vote of
the people and retired by means of a separate property tax levy, 2) debt approved by
the City Council to be retired out of the proceeds of the regular levy (referred to as either
couniclmanic bonds or an inside levy), and 3) debt, which while secured by taxing
authority, is retired by means of other revenue.
Governmental Fund Types: A group of funds which account the activities of the City which are
of a governmental character, as distinguished from activities which are of a business
character.
Page 274
2003 Final Budaet
Appendix
Indirect Charges or Cost Allocation: Refers to the process of accounting costs between funds.
Usually applied to determining the costs of administrative services provided to Non-
General Fund divisions.
Inside Levy: The dedication of a portion of the regular property tax levy to retire councilmanic
bonds.
Internal Service Funds (Series 500 Funds):A type of proprietary fund which accounts the goods and
services which are provided as internal services of the City; includes the equipment rental
system and insurance reserves.
Line Departments: Line departments are those that provide services directly to the public and consists
of the following departments:
Planning and Cornrnunity Deve/oprnent: Includes three divisions and a special activity;
Planning, Airport, and Community Development Block Grant.
Police: Provides all Police Services, including the jail.
Fire: Provides all Fire, emergency medical and hazardous material services of the City.
Public Works: Consists of several divisions or services, including building regulation, City
building maintenance, engineering, all utilities, equipment rental and streets.
Parks: Provides recreational services and maintains park facilities. Includes senior services
and the management of the cemetery and golf course.
Local Improvement Districts (LIDs): A legal mechanism that finances specific capital
improvements that benefit specific properties. Places a special assessment against the
benefited property to repay debt incurred to finance the improvements.
METRO (Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle): Conveyance, treatment and disposal of all sanitary
sewer collected within the Auburn sanitary sewer service area is provided by King County
based on a contract signed in 1974 with Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle. The County
and Metro consolidated effective January 1, 1994. Services formerly performed by Metro
now are performed by the County. All obligations and contracts with Metro have been
assumed by the county.
MIT: Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
PAA (Potential Annexation Area): Those currently unincorporated areas the city intends to annex
within the 20-year time frame in the Comprehensive Plan.
Program Improvements: Program improvements are a type of budgetary action which consists of
new initiatives or substantial changes to existing programs.
Proprietary Funds: A group of funds which account for the activities of the City which are of a
proprietary or "business" character.
Public Safety:
A term used to identify collectively the Police and Fire services.
Revenue Bonds: Bonds which are retired by means of revenue, usually a proprietary fund. In a strict
sense, these bonds are not secured by the tax base of the full faith and credit of the City,
although sometimes general obligation bonds which are being retired by revenue may be
referred inaccurately to as revenue bonds. While the full faith and credit of the City is not
pledged as security, the revenue of a utility often is.
Page 275
2003 Final Budaet
Appendix
Regular Levy:
The portion of the property tax which supports the General Fund.
Special Assessments: An assessment similar to a tax (but legally distinct and is separately billed),
applied to property participating in a Local Improvement District (LID) to retire the LID
debt.
Special Levy:
Separate property tax levies authorized by the voters for specific purposes.
Special Revenue (Series 100 Funds): A type of governmental fund which accounts the proceeds
of specific revenue sources that are legally restricted for expenditures.
Tax Base: The wealth of the community available to be taxed by various forms of City taxes.
Commonly thought of as the assessed value of the community.
WRIA:
Water Resources Inventory Area.
Page 276