Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, September 28, 2010,
Item 19
>> 19 is to consider and take appropriate action on order approving the travis county budget for fiscal year 2011.
>> thank you, judge. The -- the proposed budget was filed and is reflective of everything contained within the preliminary budget that we discussed during markup and any changes that were incorporated. It also is balanced against the fifth revenue estimate for -- against allocated reserve. And the backup is there and available.
>> i do not have my glasses with me today. They are probably somewhere in the car. But do we have anything in here that says how we're going to pay back that million that we borrowed from the future?
>> commissioner, one of the things from markup when you directed p.b.o. To go back in and start immediately in looking for that 1.7 million that was not a shortage of total funds, but what it was was a shortage of ongoing versus one-time funds. And what i did was i -- i took a calculation, revisited the calculation from the preliminary budget on the amount of ongoing revenue that we had in the fund balance, and what i have found is that that 1.7 should be able to be covered by additional ongoing revenue that we anticipate once we close the books for fiscal year 10. So i am very optimistic that we will be able to close that gap once we get the books closed.
>> so that means you'll be sweeping out unspent money from different departmental funds?
>> right. And it's also a calculation of how much ongoing revenue ended up in the fund balance. And we'll be in conjunction with the county auditor in trying to get a better number on that, but i am optimistic that by the time we file the adopted budget document that we will have been able to confirm that we do have ongoing money to cover that 1.7.
>> okay, and so we still have the practice of closing -- of stopping the expenditure or the spendout of budgets to zero? We still have that practice?
>> sure. We do monitor expenditures, and to the extent departments elected and appointed officials do have the budgets available, they are able to spend. I have not seen any extreme accelerated spending out, as you mention. You know, a lot of departments do reserve funds until the end to see if they have funds available to buy necessary supplies and things. But i have not seen any extraordinary spending out over the last 30 days.
>> because there is a deadline, correct, susan?
>> last friday was the deadline for entering requisitions with the exception of, you know, if there are exceptional things that come up at the last minute.
>> and as i remember, that was an important number because it's added to the ending fund balance which helps us get a healthier start for the following year.
>> that's exactly right. Leroy is right. We budget what we think people need and legally they could spend all of that, but the departments tend not to and sometimes there is heavy spending at the end because what you might say is, you know, i want to make sure these things are taken care of first and you hold some things to the end of the year, make sure you have enough money for early on expenditures. So it wouldn't be unusual to have some heavy expenditures, but we've not seen people spend out. But no, that's exactly right. The money left over just like in your checking account at the end of the month, that's the beginning balance for the next month and the county does the same thing so yes, you are exactly right.
>> thanks.
>> any other questions or comments?
>> judge, i would just like to, if i may, acknowledge these two folks here in the p.b.o. Staff.
>> let's get this business done and then we'll do that.
>> yes, sir.
>> move approval of the recommended budget for fiscal year 2011 which contains the many, many votes this court has made over the last four or five months.
>> second.
>> discussion? All in favor. Show a unanimous court voting for that. Now, mr. Rhoades, a point of privilege.
>> thank you, sir. I'd like to just take a minute to acknowledge the staff in p.b.o. And to thank all of the departments for their cooperation throughout this budget process and specially this gentleman right here for his work and everything that he's done in pulling this thing together. Wouldn't have happened without him so i just want to acknowledge the work that he's done, and i also want to thank the county attorney for their work and their efforts as a part of this process.
>> i will use the great power vested in the county judge to make sure they get their 2.5% cola.
>> thank you, judge.
>> and i did owe you a note of appreciation. I witnessed the hard work that they performed over the last few months and i'm glad to have them on my team.
>> as am i.
>> or glad to be part of theirs.
>> and also the fine work that leroy and dusty and some of the others are doing on the tax team.
>> thank you.
>> thank you all.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 3:37 PM
