Budget

1. Annual budgets (i.e. from July 1 – June 30) are adopted for all funds except capital projects, store, trust and agency funds. Project budgets are adopted for major capital projects.
2. The budget must be balanced for all budgeted funds. Total anticipated revenues should equal total estimated expenditures. In the event anticipated revenues are insufficient to fund anticipated essential expenditures, a portion of the unreserved fund balance from previous years must be used to fund the shortfall. In the event there is insufficient unreserved fund balance from previous years to fund anticipated expenditures, then such expenditures must be reduced to equal anticipated revenues plus available unreserved fund balance. In the event it is known at the time the budget must be adopted that extraordinary expenditures in the current year will cause a deficit at the beginning of the year, such deficit must be eliminated by either additional revenues or reduced expenditures.
3. All budgets will be adopted on a basis of accounting consistent with generally accepted accounting principles except for encumbrances or where prohibited by Georgia law. Revenues are budgeted when they become measurable and available and expenditures are budgeted when they became measurable and a liability has been incurred which will be liquidated with current resources. All outstanding encumbrances are charged to the budget appropriation in the year initially encumbered.
4. All unencumbered appropriations lapse at year end. However, the appropriation authority for encumbrances carries forward to the next year.
5. The general fund will contain a line-item for contingencies for unforeseen operating expenditures. The amount of the contingency will be no more than 5% of budgeted local revenues. An equal amount of fund balance will be budgeted to fund the contingency.
6. The general fund unreserved fund balance (i.e., the total fund balance less allowable reserves and capital reserve designation) should normally not exceed 15% of the next year’s budgeted general fund expenditures.
7. The budget shall be adopted by the local county board. Expenditures may not exceed the total appropriation (plus carryover) for any county. The local board must approve any changes to the budget. However, the Director and the financial officer of the library shall have the authority to transfer appropriations within a 10% variation.

1/24/96