Glossary of Budget Terminology
FUND BALANCE : The difference between fund assets and fund liabilities of governmental and similar trust funds .
FUND BALANCE , UNASSIGNED : That portion of the fund balance that is not legally segregated for a specific future use ; available for appropriation at any time by the Town Council in the event of a natural or financial emergency .
HIRING RATE : A rate of pay which is five percent ( 5 %) below that rate established as the beginning rate for each position classification on the pay plan ; the rate historically paid during the employee ’ s probationary period .
INTANGIBLES TAX REIMBURSEMENT : A state-shared revenue to replace the revenue received from the repealed state tax on intangible property ( i . e ., stocks and bonds ).
INVENTORY TAX REIMBURSEMENT : A state-shared revenue to replace the Town ’ s former tax levy on business inventory , which was made non-taxable by the state .
LEVY : ( 1 ) Verb : To impose taxes , special assessments or service charges for the support of Town activities . ( 2 ) Noun : The total amount of taxes , special assessments or service charges imposed by the Town .
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET AND FISCAL CONTROL ACT : An act of the State of North Carolina which governs many facets of local government financial activities , including the budget process .
MARKET ADJUSTMENT : An increase in the salary or wages of an employee to bring compensation in line with current market rates .
OPERATING BUDGET : Plans of current expenditures and the proposed means of financing them ; the annual operating budget is the primary means by which most of the financing , acquisition , spending and service delivery activities of the Town are controlled .
PART-TIME EMPLOYEE : For budget purposes , a Town employee hired to work for less than forty ( 40 ) hours per week for an indefinite period ; part-time employees may be eligible to participate in the Town ’ s benefits programs , depending on the number of hours worked .
PERFORMANCE MEASURES : Descriptions of a program ’ s effectiveness or efficiency ( i . e ., response time to public requests , frequency of document updates ).
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