Fiscal & Budgetary Guidelines
Budget Development Policies
General
� The Town Manager shall prepare a proposed balanced budget for each annual operating fund , itemizing revenues and expenditures . A budget is considered to be balanced when total expenditures are equal to , or do not exceed revenues . � The Town Council shall adopt the budget of the Town at department level . �
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The Town will develop its annual budgets in such a manner so as to incorporate historic trend analysis for revenues and expenditures with an adjustment for current financial trends and developments as appropriate . One-time or other special revenues will not be used to finance continuing Town operations but instead will be used for funding special projects .
� The Town will pursue an aggressive policy seeking the collection of delinquent utility , license , permit and other fees due to the Town .
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The Town Council will receive a financial report no less than quarterly showing year-to date revenues and expenditures . Budget amendments , which include revisions of the revenue or expenditure totals or utilization of any fund balance , will be brought to Town Council for approval in accordance to North Carolina Statutes 159-15 . Budget transfers between operating line items within a department are managed by the Department and approved by the Budget Director . Transfer authority for salary and benefit line items is granted to the Budget Director and is approved by the Town Manager . This authority is granted to an amount not to exceed departmental appropriation authority . Transfers of any amount between departments or capital projects shall be brought before Town Council for approval .
Revenues
� Property Taxes : The Town shall contract with Wake County for the collection of property taxes , excluding vehicle property taxes and tags , which are collected by the NC Division of Motor Vehicles . The Town encourages the practices and methods of these two agencies to maintain as high a collection rate as possible .
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Fees : All fee schedules and user charges are reviewed and adjusted periodically to ensure that rates are equitable and cover the total cost of the service or that portion of the total cost deemed appropriate by the Town . Periodically , the Town will recalculate the full costs of activities and services supported by user fees to identify the impact of inflation and other cost increases .
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