Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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To: |
Management Team |
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From: |
Casey Toomay, Budget Manager |
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Date: |
March 12, 2010 |
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Re: |
2011 Budget Instructions |
The following information will assist you in preparing your 2011 Budget Request. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions during this process.
Preliminary estimates from the County Appraiser indicate a decrease in assessed valuation of two to three percent for 2011. We are anticipating little to no growth in sales tax. In addition, building permits and other development related fees and charges for services are likely to remain flat or decline.
On the expenditure side, 2011 will be the third year of our merit based employee appraisal system. We will be reviewing compensation levels in our peer communities to develop a recommendation for a merit pool in the City Manager’s recommended budget.
The City Manager has expressed a desire to continue to match expenditures to revenues. Therefore, all departments will be asked to submit two scenarios for the 2011 budget – one maintaining 2010 budget levels for all categories of expenditures other than personal services and one that assumes a 2.5% decrease in total expenditures other than personal services.
You will be notified when payroll projections are placed in your department’s budget folder, likely the third week of March. Please check for accuracy in the projected numbers of positions (full time are in 1021 and part time regular are in 1027; temporary are in 1026). Please note – initial projections will not contain any amount for a merit pool or longevity. Vacant positions will be included and will be projected at 5% above the minimum of the pay range for the position.
You will receive further instruction regarding revising your budget requests based on the recommendation for the merit pool for 2011 at a later date.
Overtime and Call/Callback
As always, departments need to budget for overtime and call/call back. Remember the amount budgeted must include funds for FICA, unemployment, KPERS and KP&F related to these hours.
Recruitment Costs
Departments should budget for all new employee physicals, drug screens, background checks, recruitment advertising, and new supervisor training. Additional information on the estimated costs of these items will be provided in early April.
Each department, depending on number of computers, connections to the network and other factors, will be charged appropriately for upgrades, shared costs, etc. Jim Wisdom will be providing this information to you. Information Systems has advised that software license fees are expected to increase for 2011. Departments should anticipate a small increase over 2010.
Regarding telephone charges, according to Information Systems our rates per minute for long distance as well as monthly charges for AT&T lines are locked in by multi-year agreement. Therefore, you can assume the same per minute rate when budgeting.
Departments should anticipate an increase of thirty percent (30%) in electricity costs and an increase of fifteen percent (15%) in natural gas costs over 2009 actual.
Departments should assume the following average price per gallon for fuel in 2011:
Diesel - $3.16/gallon
Unleaded- $3.00/gallon
The attached spreadsheet contains fuel usage by division for 2009 for budgeting purposes.
Health Care Costs
Departments in the General Fund do not need to budget health care expenses. Those departments outside of the General Fund will be provided with health care cost estimates in early April and will need to include them in their budget requests.
Due to implementation of Innoprise, the format for the 2011 budget submittal will be different from previous years. However, departments will still save content to folders on the network.
The following should be completed for each department by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 23, 2010:
Please use the standard agenda format for this memo and save it in your network budget folder. The memo should briefly focus on what maintaining 2010 spending levels (excluding personnel) will mean to the level of service your department will provide and what a 2.5% reduction (excluding personnel) will mean in terms of service level. In addition, a spreadsheet should be attached containing the line item reductions needed to achieve the 2.5% reduction.
Detail Budget
Rather than creating the budget detail Excel spreadsheets this year, we will be using the budget functions in Innoprise. We will be organizing training for all staff responsible for budget entry the last week of March.
With the exception of overtime and call/call back, you do not need to complete the personal services line items at this time. Remember, the amount budgeted for overtime and call/callback must include funds for FICA, unemployment, KPERS and KP&F related to these hours.
Expenditures entered into Innoprise should not exceed 2010 budget levels, although you may make adjustments within the accounts in all categories other than personal services. Remember, the 2009 actual numbers are not audited numbers so adjustments for the 14t through 99th periods should be considered.
You will receive further instruction regarding your submitted reductions as necessary.
The form to be used for these prioritized requests is in Excel and is included in a folder called Budget Forms on the Network. Please use this form exclusively for this request and be sure to prioritize your requests. Each department will complete a capital outlay spreadsheet with multiple tabs for each request. For departments with multiple divisions, create one Capital Outlay spreadsheet for each division, with multiple tabs for each request. Save these requests in the Network. As in the past, all vehicle and computer capital outlay requests should be submitted for review to Steve Stewart and Jim Wisdom, respectively, before you submit them in your proposal.
Budget Summary Pages
The significant issues, major goals and objectives, organizational charts, current year accomplishments, and performance indicators should be updated in the folder on the network by May 5, 2010. Remember, only one person can access each file at a time, so please plan accordingly.
Accessing Budget Documents
Please be sure and save all your spreadsheets and forms back into your folder so the City Manager’s Office can access to your requests.
Department Head Meetings with City Commissioners
Departments will not have budget hearings before the City Commission this year. Instead, a study session is anticipated for June, during which the City Manager will present the line items for all budgeted funds. Department Directors will be asked to attend in order to answer questions from the City Commission.
Budget Calendar
One established by the City Commission, the budget calendar, and any updates, will be posted on the network at \\Citydata\budget\2011 Budget Process.
Due Date
All budget submittal materials should be completed by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 23, 2010. Please email Cynthia and myself when your submittal is complete.
Many thanks to all who help make this process accurate, timely, and responsive to the instructions herein. Please let us know how we can help you and your staff.