Ch 7 Eff SupFinancial Management and Strategic Planning

Flashcards covering the fundamentals of local government budgeting, strategic planning, performance measurement, and procurement practices as described by Brian Platt.

Budget

A document that allocates an organization's resources to accomplish its vision, establish plans for service delivery, and communicate priorities to stakeholders.

Revenues

The money coming into an organization from taxes, fees, grants, or other sources of funding.

Expenditures

The money spent by an organization to fulfill its mission, such as delivering services to the community.

Fiscal year

The $12$-month accounting year an organization uses to plan, manage, and report its finances.

Balanced budget

A budget where planned expenditures do not exceed anticipated revenues within a fiscal year.

Operating budget

A budget covering revenue estimates and planned expenditures for all ongoing government activities and items with a useful life of one year or less.

Capital budget

A budget covering revenue sources and planned expenditures for nonrecurring, multiyear items like construction or equipment acquisition.

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)

A multiyear plan for financing major equipment or infrastructure improvements with a useful life generally of $5$ or more years.

Enterprise funds

Categories used to isolate money collected through user fees, such as water and sewer billing, which can only be used for the purpose for which it was collected.

Intergovernmental funds

Resources collected from other government entities to provide joint services across jurisdictional boundaries, often governed by an MOU or JPA.

Debt service

Funds covering the payment of principal and interest on bonds sold by a local government to fund large expenditures over several years.

Budget Planning (Step 1)

The stage beginning $5$ to $8$ months before the fiscal year where the CAO and governing body define broad goals and revenue estimates.

Strategic plan

A formally adopted document containing a vision, mission, values, and goals to guide an organization for several years.

Performance goal

A defined outcome to be achieved through the work performed by a team; the most useful of these are clear, meaningful, and measurable.

SMART Goals

An acronym for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Performance measurement

The systematic and objective collection of data to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of a team’s performance.

Demand (Metric)

External factors impacting the workload or volume of an activity, such as total acres of parks to be maintained.

Inputs (Metric)

The resources required to accomplish an activity, such as staff time expended or dollars invested in a program.

Outputs (Metric)

Quantitative measures of what an activity produces, such as the number of customers served.

Efficiency (Metric)

The resource cost per unit of outputs and outcomes, such as the average cost to maintain a park.

Effectiveness (Metric)

A measure of the quality of the work performed, such as the percentage of employees scoring $90$ or above on a customer service test.

Outcomes (Metric)

The impact of an activity focusing on desired results, such as the increase in percentage of customers rating service as excellent.

Strategic management

The routine monitoring of a team’s progress toward strategic performance goals throughout the year to provide course correction.

Purchasing

The act of buying supplies or limited services that can be accomplished by processing a simple bill or invoice.

Procurement

A complex process involving the selection of vendors and administration of contracts for services or expensive purchases.

Purchase order (PO)

A legally binding record sent from the buyer to a selected vendor confirming the amount, type, and price of goods or services desired.

Invoice

A bill sent from a vendor to a buyer once goods or services have been provided, confirming the date, amount, and payment due.

Request for Quotes (RFQ)

An informal solicitation process used to collect quotes from at least $3$ vendors to select the lowest price meeting specific requirements.

Request for Proposals (RFP)

A formal solicitation document for large purchases that describes the scope of services, format for bids, and evaluation criteria.

Sole source

A contract exemption used when competition is fruitless because only one vendor can meet the specific needs of the agency.

Cooperative purchasing

A procurement method allowing an agency to 'piggy-back' on a contract already established by another government entity through a competitive process.

Scope of work

A portion of a contract describing project objectives, tasks, deliverables, desired outcomes, deadlines, and schedules.

Grants

Funds provided by federal, state, or nonprofit grantors that require detailed record-keeping and compliance to avoid audits or revoked funds.