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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2007)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, February 15, 2007 Budgets 101: A brief primer on public agency budgeting Basic business All city, county, school and fire district budgets, in fact, all agencies with budgets that must be reported to the state, follow the same basic format. Revenues and expenses are accounted for in a variety of funds, each of which has a defined purpose. The purpose may be to keep track of funds allocated for specif- ic projects, such as building a reserve for replacement of equip- ment or infrastructure, or to track the revenues and expenses of a department. Usually, a General Fund serves as the main de- pository of revenue and the ‘checkbook’ for everyday expenses. At an agency’s first budget meeting of each year, a budget message is delivered and, usually, the budget document is pre- sented to the budget committee for review. The budget docu- ment is divided into separate sections for each fund. Each section, or fund, shows anticipated revenues and pro- posed expenses for each account within the fund. The proposed amount is followed by a blank column that will be filled by the budget committee’s recommended budget. These committees are usually somewhat large, and most operate using Robert’s Rules of Order to make agreed-upon changes in the budget. The recommended budget then goes before the governing body, ie., the board of directors, council, etc., for final decisions. The final column in a budget document is for the adopted budg- et, as voted on by the governing body. Also included in the budg- et document are audited figures showing actual revenues and expenditures for the previous two fiscal years (In this case for fiscal years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006), as well as the adopted budget for the current fiscal year (2006-2007). Resources (income) are presented first in each budget ac- workshop count and include the anticipated amount of each of the revenue sources that go into a specific fund, for instance, taxes, fees, grants, etc. Expenditures for each fund are also itemized, de- pending on the anticipated use, such as personnel, travel, ma- terials and services, capital outlay or contingency. A special cat- egory included in the expenditure portion, called the “unappro- priated ending balance” is intended to provide enough cash car- ryover to last until resources start coming in for the new budget year. State law requires balanced budgets, therefore, total rev- enues (resources) must equal total expenditures (requirements). Budget documents are huge, and are condensed for publica- tion. Only the totals for each major category (personal services, debt service, capital outlay, etc.) are printed. This can make the document extremely difficult to understand, particularly when several entities, such as schools, are combined into one aggre- gate budget. Budget meetings are open to the public. A workshop on the Basics of Business will be held Thursday, March 1, in Portland. Workshop topics include recordkeeping, marketing and selling, insuring your business, business assis- tance, management, sources of money, legal structures and an introduction to developing a business plan. The workshop, sponsored by SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the ODS Building, 601 SW 2nd Ave., Rm 2030, Portland. Pre- registration is $55.00 for the first person from a family/busi- ness, or $65.00 at the door for the first person from family/ business, and $50.00 for each additional person. Registration will be 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. Seating is limited; pre-regis- tration is encouraged. Call 503-326-3441 to register. Good with budgets? How’s your math? Like all local governments – cities, counties, fire districts, library districts, etc. – Vernonia School Dis- trict 47J is starting its budget process, but it needs more budget committee members. If you are inter- ested in helping, please see the school board arti- cle on page 11 for more information. Community Calendar VERNONIA Al-Anon Fridays 7:00 p.m. Grange Hall Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays 6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Alcoholics Anonymous Thursdays 6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg. American Legion Post #119 2nd Thursday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Arts & Crafts Society 2nd Thursday 2:00 p.m., City Library Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., VHS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 7:00 p.m., Leonetti’s Grill CERT 4th Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-3018 Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-429-8133 Hands On Art Committee 1st & 3rd Thursdays 4:00 p.m., City Hall Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant Narcotics Anonymous Saturdays 7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Public Works Committee 2nd & 4th Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Venturing Crew 201 1st & 3rd Thursdays 5:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Community PTA 3rd Thursday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Learning Center 1st Wednesday 7:00 p.m., VLC Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Pride 3rd Thursday 1:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 1:00 p.m., Senior Center Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Thursday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC S M 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 FEBRUARY 2007 T W T 1 6 7 8 13 14 15 20 21 22 27 28 F 2 9 16 23 S 3 10 17 24 S M 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 MARCH 2007 T W T 1 8 7 6 13 14 15 20 21 22 27 28 29 F 2 9 16 23 30 S 3 10 17 24 31 S 1 8 15 22 29 MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 2nd Tuesday M-BRFPD Board Workshop 4th Tuesday M-B Ambulance Drill 1st & 2nd Thursdays M-B Fire Drill 1st & 2nd Wednesdays M-B Helping Circle 2nd Monday M-B SAR Drill 3rd Wednesday M-B Volunteer Assoc. 1st Tuesday Natal Grange 2nd Wednesday T.O.P.S. Mondays Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-2401 M 2 9 16 23 30 APRIL 2007 T W T 3 4 5 10 11 12 17 18 19 24 25 26 F 6 13 20 27 S 7 14 21 28 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 6:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Fridays 7:00 p.m., Methodist Church Alcoholics Anonymous Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church American Legion Post #90 2nd Tuesdays 7:30 p.m., Main Street Post Banks City Council 2nd Tuesday 7:30 p.m., City Hall Banks Fire District #13 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Station 13 Banks Planning Commission Last Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Banks School Board 2nd Monday 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library Banks Youth Group Sundays, Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. Chamber of Commerce 1st Thursday 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office CPO 14 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., City Library Friends of the Library 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Library Lions Club 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby Sunset Park Assoc. 3rd Wednesday 8:00 p.m., Gun Club T.O.P.S. Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesdays 10 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 3rd Monday 6:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. Mental Health Advisory Comm. 3rd Tuesday 10 a.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 550 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. 2nd Tuesday 3:00 p.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.