Fill - Free fillable 2017-01 Citywide Budget Process PDF form

Issue Date: August 9, 2016

Office of the City Auditor

Committed to increasing government efficiency, effectiveness,

accountability and transparency

of the City Auditor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ ii

Comprehensive List of Recommendations .................................................................................... iii

What Works Well ............................................................................................................................4

Consistent Use of Committed General Fund Balance to Cover Expenditures May Not be

Sustainable .......................................................................................................................................6

Operating Expenditures Were Not Fully Funded ............................................................................7

General Fund Revenues Projections Were Not Documented ........................................................14

Budgeting Process Could Be Improved To Increase Accountability ............................................15

Budgeting Process Could Be More Efficient .................................................................................17

Management Responses ................................................................................................. Appendix A

GFOA Detailed Criteria Location Guide ...................................................................... Appendix B

Executive Summary

August 9, 2016

Ms. Selena Cuffee-Glenn, Chief Administrative Officer

The City Auditor’s Office has completed an audit of the City’s Budgeting Process for the 12 month

period ended June 30, 2015. The results of this audit were discussed and agreed upon with the

City Administration and City Council staff.

During the audit period, the City’s budget was neither transparent nor accurate. It did not cover

all City cost and revenue projections were not appropriately supported. Without a proper estimate

of revenue and expenditures, it is not possible to determine if the City is keeping its expenditures

within limits permitted by revenues. In these circumstances, long-term sustainability of the City’s

operations and reliability of its services cannot be assured. During the past three years, the City

consistently used committed general fund balance for covering expenditures, which is a practice

that may not be sustainable in the long run. As observed in the previously issued Sustainability

audit, the credit rating agencies focus on the fund balance as a component of their rating. A

diminishing general fund balance may have an adverse impact on the City’s bond rating.

Also, the budget, if tied to performance, can act as a good overall control for the government’s

spending and living within its means. This method also ensures organizational accountability.

However, departmental appropriations are not linked to performance. Currently, the

departments are primarily funded based on the previous year’s appropriations.

The City Auditor’s Office has made 12 recommendations in this report, which the City

Administration has concurred. Based on the responses, it appears that improvements were made

for the subsequent budget process. The City Auditor’s Office will evaluate the improvements as

they become due.

The City Auditor’s Office appreciates the cooperation of the Budget staff during this review. The

responses to the report are attached. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Umesh Dalal

Umesh Dalal, CPA, CIA, CIG

City Auditor

cc: The Richmond City Audit Committee

Ms. Lenora Reid, DCAO of Administration and Finance

Mr. Jay Brown, Director of Budget and Strategic Planning

Ms. Lou Brown Ali, Council Chief of Staff

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

iii

PAGE

The Mayor and the CAO need to ensure that the City’s operational costs are controlled to avoid

the use of unassigned fund balance for any future obligations or deficits.

The Mayor and the CAO need to identify and provide full funding for all mandatory and

contractual obligations of the City.

The Mayor needs to certify in documentation accompanying the budget that:

 The submitted budget includes all mandatory and contractual obligations

and anticipated costs for effective operations of the City.

 The revenue estimates have been appropriately compiled and evaluated

using established methodology.

 The amount of vacancy savings that represents the funding expected to be

used for operational purposes and the impact of further reduction of these

savings will have on the City services.

The Mayor and the CAO need to prepare the budget using realistic estimates of

revenues and expenditures for the City.

The CAO needs to evaluate all positions remaining vacant for multiple years and

determine the justification of keeping them.

The Mayor and the CAO need to fund vacancies that are realistically expected to be

filled in order to ensure effective City operations.

The City Council needs to evaluate the operational impact of reducing the funded

vacancies included in the budget proposed by the Mayor prior to using these funds for

balancing the budget.

The CAO needs to ensure that departments routinely do not use funding for the vacant

positions to cover unfunded cost.

The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs to ensure proper documentation of the

revenue projection methodology.

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

The CAO needs to ensure that adequate KPIs are developed for functions in each

department that are easily measurable and tied to the City’s focus areas. The CAO

needs to use the KPIs results to determine resources allocated to easily measurable

functions in the City departments.

For other functions in the City departments, the CAO needs to determine appropriate

methods to evaluate functional performance and establish a performance based

budget for them.

The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs to automate the budgeting process.

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Richmond City Auditor’s Report# 2017-01

Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

Introduction, Objectives, and Methodology

The City Auditor’s Office has completed an audit of the City’s Budgeting Process

for the 12 month period

ended June 30, 2015. The objectives of this audit were

to:

 Verify alignment of the budget process with the City’s objectives

 Evaluate the adequacy of the budget process compared to best practices

 Verify compliance with City and State Code

o Chapter 6 (Budget) – City Charter

o Code of Virginia Chapter 25 – Budgets, Audits and Reports.

The auditors conducted this performance audit in accordance with Generally

Accepted Government Auditing Standards. Those Standards require that the

auditors plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence

to provide a reasonable basis for their findings and conclusions based on the

audit objectives. The auditors believe that the evidence obtained provides a

reasonable basis for their findings and conclusions based on the audit

objectives.

Methodology

Auditors performed the following procedures to complete this audit:

 Interviewed Budget and Strategic Planning management and staff;

 Interviewed selected departments’ staff to determine how their budgets

were developed and were they aligned with City objectives;

Budget data prior to and after FY15 was reviewed to conduct trend analyses. Also,

the FY16 budget data was reviewed given all of the media coverage regarding the

budgeting issues and the anticipated end-of-year deficit.

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

 Tested for compliance with selected City and State code requirements;

 Reviewed various budgeting documentation and reports;

 Conducted walkthroughs of the budgeting processes;

 Compared the City’s budget process to the GFOA’s best practices;

 Benchmarked with other localities; and

 Performed other tests, as deemed necessary.

Management Responsibility

The City management is responsible for ensuring resources are managed

properly and used in compliance with laws and regulations; programs are

achieving their objectives; and services are being provided efficiently,

effectively, and economically.

Background

The budgeting process is very important for a government as it serves as:

o The focal point of key resource allocation decisions;

o A fiscal control over spending of the resources;

o A plan for the future;

o A measurement of performance of City services; and

o A communication tool to help the public understand where revenues

come from and how they are spent on City services.

Pursuant to the recommended budget practices promulgated by the

Government Finance Officer Association (GFOA), “the mission of the budget

process is to help decision makers make informed choices about the

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

provision of services and capital assets and to promote stakeholder

participation in the process.”

The City’s budgeting process is a collaborative effort between City

Agencies/Departments; The Office of Budget and Strategic Planning; The

Finance Department; The City Administration consisting of the Mayor and the

Chief Administrative Officer, and the City Council. During the audit period, the

Budget Department was responsible for developing the expenditure projections

and the Finance Department was responsible for developing the revenue

projections. Citizens’ input is obtained through numerous means, such as,

Council District meetings, public budget meetings and citizen surveys. Overall,

the budget process works as depicted below:

The City prepares and adopts a biennial fiscal plan (budget document). The

initial adoption approves the budget for the first year of the plan. The second

year of the plan is approved after adopting amendments. The City is required

to have a balanced budget in which the total proposed expenditures cannot

exceed the estimated revenue plus carried forward fund balance. The adopted

expenditures for FY2014 and FY2015 were:

Departments

submit budget

requests

Budget Dept.

submits budget

recommendations

to City

Administration

Mayor makes

changes and

submits proposed

budget to City

Council

Council makes

amendments and

adopts budget

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

Adopted Expenditures

Fund

FY2014

FY2015

General Fund

$760,532,300

$786,484,419

Capital Improvement Program

$212,819,829

$236,971,328

Special Revenue Funds

$83,054,332

$77,670,971

Enterprise Funds

$312,671,455

$334,508,010

Internal Service Funds

$25,097,050

$26,130,318

Debt Service Fund

$66,768,354

$94,326,665

Richmond Public Schools

$247,043,662

$262,594,000

Total

$1,707,986,982

$1,818,685,711

The general fund adopted expenditures include contributions to Richmond Public Schools and the City’s Debt Service

Fund.

OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

What Works Well

 The City received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

for its budget for the biennium beginning July 1, 2015. The award is

given for presentation of required information along with financial

policies of the organization. The City has received this award for its

biennial budget every two years since 1999 with the exception of

FY2007. (See Appendix B for award criteria).

 The budget was developed, approved and distributed in compliance with

State and City Code requirements. Specifically, the audit testing found

compliance with the following State Code requirements:

o 15.2-2503. Time for preparation and approval of budget

contents.

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

o 15.2-2506. Publication and notice; public hearing; adjournment;

moneys not to be paid out until appropriated.

o 15.2-2507. Amendment of budget.

 The City has implemented various elements within the principles of the

budgeting best practices issued by the GFOA. However, as this report

presents, improvements in the below areas are needed.

Improvement Opportunities

The following figure depicts the audit observations, which will be discussed in

detail in this report:

Budget Process

Operating Expenditures not

fully funded

Known contractual /

mandatory obligations not

fully funded

Use of Commited General

Fund balance to cover

expenditures

Vacancies funded at lowest

pay range

Revenues

Fund balance used to cover

budget shortfall

Vacancy funding used to

balance the budget

Methodology/assumption

used for revenue

projections not documented

Does not ensure

accountability

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

Consistent Use of Committed General Fund Balance to Cover Expenditures May Not Be

Sustainable

The general fund is the primary operating fund, which includes all revenues and

expenditures that are not accounted for in other funds. It finances the regular

day-to-day operations of the City. The reserved/committed

general fund

balance was consistently used for the past three years (FY13-FY15) to cover

expenditures as noted below. If this trend continues, the City will have to tap

into the unassigned

(Rainy Day) fund balance to cover the general fund

shortfalls. Based upon the third quarter revenue and expenditure projections

for FY2016, a general fund deficit of approximately $4.2 million is anticipated.

This situation may not be sustainable in the long run.

General Fund

FY2013

FY2014

FY2015

Committed

Fund Balance

Used

$34,982,025

$680,947

$20,184,209

Fund Balance

$127,031,470

$126,350,523

$106,166,314

Source: Annual CAFRS

Note 1: FY2015 figures are unaudited

Note 2: Total general fund balance, including reserved/committed and unassigned (Rainy Day) balances.

According to the GFOA, using a portion of the unassigned fund balance is one

tool available for addressing tight budget times and may be a necessity for local

Amounts constrained to specific purposes.

Unassigned fund balance has no specific or designated use.

According to the Budget Director, the majority of the committed funds used are

attributed to receipts received from Richmond Metropolitan Authority in FY2012 but

not expended/appropriated until FY2013.

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August 2016

governments struggling with declining revenues and increasing costs. However,

continued dependence on the unassigned fund balance will eventually weaken

the locality’s financial stability. If the City has to use the unassigned fund

balance to cover shortfalls, the challenge will be to replenish the fund if

revenues decline and/or expenses continue to increase. Pursuant to City

regulations, any amount drawn from the unassigned fund balance must be

replenished within three years.

Recommendation:

1. The Mayor and the CAO need to ensure that the City’s operational costs are

controlled to avoid the use of unassigned fund balance for any future

obligations or deficits.

Operating Expenditures Were Not Fully Funded

The above general fund deficits are partially attributed to the fact that

operational costs were not fully funded in the budget. Sufficient funding was

not appropriated for contractual obligations and services (including mandatory

services) provided to the citizens.

The following table, presents examples of obligations that were not fully funded

in FY 15 budget:

FY2014

FY2015

FY2016

Adopted

Service/Contract

Budgeted

Actual

Funding Gap

Budgeted

Actual

Funding Gap

Inmate Medical

$4,462,065

$6,563,917

$(2,101,852)

$4,621,078

$7,939,377

$(3,318,299)

$4,552,354

Inmate Food

$951,700

$1,027,548

$(75,848)

$951,700

$1,222,283

$(270,583)

$998,702

Microsoft License

$448,744

$849,144

$(400,400)

$476,346

$1,033,135

$(556,789)

$434,188

Print Governance

$1,304,798

$1,182,141

$122,657

$1,304,798

$1,704,000

$(399,202)

$1,232,729

RAPIDS

$1,000,000

$1,185,312

$(185,312)

$900,000

1,129,7210

$(229,721)

$900,000

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August 2016

Additional funding for inmate food and above DIT’ expenditures was not

requested by the Departments for FY2015. However, funding, with the

exception of Microsoft license, was requested for the expenditures in the FY16

budgets but was not approved and appropriated. City agencies and

departments are responsible for communicating funding needs to Budget, City

Administration and City Council. Budget, City Administration and City Council

are responsible for ensuring all known fixed costs (contractual obligations) and

mandatory services are fully funded. The following is the description of costs

depicted in the foregoing table:

Sheriff’s Office

Pursuant to State Code, the City is responsible for clothing, feeding and

providing medical treatment for jail inmates. Historically, the Office’s

expenditures have exceeded budget appropriations due to inmate costs. The

City entered into a:

 Contract with a vendor on September 1, 2014 to provide medical

prescriptive and non-prescriptive services to inmates;

 Contract with a vendor on October 1, 2014 to provide medical services

and health care for inmates; and

 Contract with a vendor on October 29, 2014 to provide food for inmates.

Although the costs of the above services were known and represented legal

obligations of the City, they were not fully funded.

Department of Information Technology

Microsoft Office software is essential for operation of the City. Every operation

of the City uses this software. This software is needed to allow for the continual

operation of the City, including financial processing, tracking and reporting. The

licensing cost for this software is a legal obligation if the City desires to continue

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Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

using the software. A portion of the cost is recouped from City Departments

and agencies. The recoupment amounts are included in the above budgeted

amounts.

Department of Public Works (DPW) – In addition to the above costs, the following

services and contractual obligations in DPW were also not fully funded:

Leaf Collection - The City provides an annual leaf collection service for citizens.

This service is highly dependent upon temporary workers. As recently reported

in various presentations and news media, traditionally, the City has not fully

funded leaf collection costs.

Jail Maintenance – The City has an annual contractual obligation for the jail

maintenance costs of approximately $1 million. On June 30, 2014, the City

entered into a contract to provide preventive and corrective repairs. However,

only $471,830 was appropriated in the FY15 budget. Approximately $1.2 million

was budgeted in RAPIDS for FY2016. According to the DPW Director, the

Department used funds appropriated for other functions to fund the

appropriation gap between actual needs and budget approvals.

Vacancy Savings

The City typically has some vacancies in its workforce. The time for which the

position remains vacant, the City saves payroll costs. This means that at the end

of each year the City will have some vacancy savings. During FY2016, $24.5

million was needed to fill all vacancies. For this purpose, the proposed budget

included $14.2 million for vacancies to balance the budget. The City Council,

during the budget process, further reduced this funding by an additional $9.3

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

million to provide additional funding to the School Division, leaving $5million to

fund all general fund vacancies. These transactions are depicted below.

Funding Needed

$24.5 million

Cuts by the Mayor

Funding in Proposed

Budget

$10.3 million

$14.2 million

Cuts by Council

$9.3 million

Vacancies Funded

$ 5 million

However, City agencies/departments have historically relied on vacancy funding

to hire temporary employees and pay overtime to supplement staffing

shortages. Based upon discussions with the above Department Directors and

various presentations to City Council, it was noted that vacancy funding and/or

funds defined for other purposes were generally used to fill the funding gaps.

Reduction of this funding has had, and will continue to have significant

consequences citywide in areas such as public safety, transportation

infrastructure and services for the youth and elderly, which are all top priorities

identified in the citizen survey.

Vacancy funding was reduced in various budgets as follows:

Fiscal Year

Funding

Reduction

% of Vacant

Positions

Funded

FY2015

$11 million

63%

FY2016

$20 million

20%

FY2017

$21 million

17%

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Citywide Budgeting Process

August 2016

The Department of Public Works (DPW) was one of the hardest hit departments

with adopted vacancy funding reductions of approximately $2.2 (68% reduction)

and $2.4 million (74% reduction) in FY16 and FY17, respectively. According to

the Administration’s prepared impact statement, some of the services expected

by the citizens may have the following consequences due to funding reduction:

 Without funding for temporary labor, leaf collections would be limited

to the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) areas of the City as mandated by

the State of Virginia Pollution Discharge Elimination (VPDES) permit. This

means that most of the City will experience leaves not being collected.

 The winter maintenance/snow program would be reduced to non-

responsive. It will take longer to clear roadways if severe snow storm

occurs.

 The bulk and brush collection would have a backlog exceeding three

months.

 Grass cutting will not be on schedule for 60% of assigned locations.

Reduction of vacancy funding is also anticipated to result in a loss of significant

reimbursements from the State. For example, it was anticipated that the City

would lose approximately $1.4 million and $1.5 million in Social Services

reimbursements from the State in FY16 and FY17, respectively.

Vacant Positions Funded at Minimum Pay Range

When a position becomes vacant, typically it must be funded to fill it

immediately. Also, in today’s competitive labor market, the position should be

funded at fair market value of the position in order to attract qualified talents

for the City’s operation. However, the current practices are to fund only a

portion of vacant positions at the minimum pay in the pay range for the position.

This pay usually is insufficient to attract experienced individuals to the City’s

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employment. If the department desires to attract qualified individuals, it would

have to wait until it could fund the pay for the qualified individual. Meanwhile,

the positions remain vacant and citizen services may suffer.

Vacant Positions Open for Multiple Years

Based upon review of vacancy data for FY2013-FY2016, it was noted that several

departments have positions that have been vacant for at least three consecutive

years. For example, the Department of Public Works (DPW) had 41 vacant

positions in FY2016 that have been open since at least FY2014. The majority of

those positions are for Refuse Truck Operators, Refuse Collectors, and

Equipment Operators.

The table below provides examples of other such positions within DPW:

Position Title

No. of Years Vacant

Facilities Maintenance Manager

FY2013-FY2016

Traffic Signal Specialist II

FY2014-FY2016

Superintendent of Facilities

FY2013-FY2016

Maintenance Technician II

FY2013-FY2016

Assistant City Traffic Engineer

FY2013-FY2016

Tree Maintenance Specialist

FY2013-FY2016

Engineer I

FY2014-FY2015

Capital Project Manager

FY2014-FY2016

Custodian Crew Chief

FY2014-FY2016

Source: FY2013-FY2016 Vacancy Data provided by Budget Department

The above information may indicate that the DPW may not be intending to fill

these positions, or they are not adequately funded. However, these positions

are carried as active positions. This type of action results in skewed impressions

of the total number of vacant positions. The City Administration needs to

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

Citywide Budgeting Process

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evaluate all positions that have remained open for multiple years on a citywide

basis, to determine if the positions are needed to efficiently and effectively run

City operations. Cutting vacant positions that are no longer needed will free up

additional funds that can be used to fully fund existing services and cost or

provide additional services.

Recommendations:

2. The Mayor and the CAO need to identify and provide full funding for all

mandatory and contractual obligations of the City.

3. The Mayor needs to certify in documentation accompanying the budget

that:

 The submitted budget includes all mandatory and contractual

obligations and anticipated costs for effective operations of

the City.

 The revenue estimates have been appropriately compiled and

evaluated using established methodology.

 The amount of vacancy savings that represents the funding

expected to be used for operational purposes and the impact

of further reduction of these savings will have on the City

services.

4. The Mayor and the CAO need to prepare the budget using realistic

estimates of revenues and expenditures for the City.

5. The CAO needs to evaluate all positions remaining vacant for multiple years

and determine the justification of keeping them.

6. The Mayor and the CAO need to fund vacancies that are realistically

expected to be filled in order to ensure effective City operations.

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August 2016

7. The City Council needs to evaluate the operational impact of reducing the

funded vacancies included in the budget proposed by the Mayor prior to

using these funds for balancing the budget.

8. The CAO needs to ensure that departments routinely do not use funding for

the vacant positions to cover unfunded cost.

General Fund Revenues Projections Were Not Documented

The actual revenues were generally in line with the projections with minor

variances (2% or less). However, the methodology and assumptions used to

calculate the projections were not documented. Supporting documentation for

the projections were not provided to auditors. Without procedures in place,

forecasting may be inappropriately conducted resulting in an overstatement or

understatement of revenue.

The Finance Department erroneously projected a surplus in delinquent personal

property tax revenue in the third quarter of FY2014 totaling approximately $8

million. This contributed to the estimated FY2015 general fund revenues to

increase by approximately $9 million. However, the anticipated surplus did not

materialize for FY14; in fact, a deficit totaling approximately $700,000 occurred.

This was an overstatement of net results by $9.7 million.

The Finance Department disclosed the error in the 3

Quarter of FY2015

Revenue and Expenditure Report. This error was identified during the FY 2014

CAFR preparation. This error may have also been caused due to the fact that

the FY2014 actual figures were not available as the Comprehensive Annual

Financial Report (CAFR) was not completed until October 2015.

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Department of Budget and Strategic Planning

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August 2016

Recommendation:

9. The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs to ensure proper

documentation of the revenue projection methodology.

Budgeting Process Could Be Improved To Increase Accountability

Performance Based Budgeting

Performance based budget typically uses the past performance to assess if a

particular expense is worth incurring based on benefits derived. This type of

budgeting requires establishment of goals and performance measures to achieve

the goals, relating budgetary appropriations to performance measures and

rewarding or penalizing functions for the future budgets. According to the

National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL), performance based budgeting relies

on accountability rather than the need to comply with regulations.

The GFOA’s Best Practices identified similar principles for effective budgeting.

 Set Broad Goals to guide decisions

 Develop strategies and financial policies

 Design a budget supportive of strategies and goals

 Focus on the necessity of continually evaluating a government’s success at

achieving the goals that it has set for itself (i.e. performance)

This concept in theory, may sound logical, however, in practice, it has different

applicability depending upon the nature of the function. For example, filling a

pothole on an average, may require a set amount of material and labor for filling

them. This activity is easily and reasonably accurately measurable. This

information could be used for developing future budgets and rewarding superior

performance. In these cases, performance based budgeting can be successful.

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However, where activity that cannot be easily measured such as addressing

recidivism amongst juveniles helped by the Justice Services. In this case, a set

amount of effort or cost may not produce identical results in two similar cases. In

this case, applying the performance based budgeting principle to determine the

entire budget may not work.

The City has adopted Performance (Outcome) Based Budgeting, and has started

the groundwork for implementing this approach. Accordingly, broad goals in the

form of the seven objectives or focus areas have been established. The City has

developed key performance indicators (KPI) for the focus areas, which do not

appropriately measure the results of operations. The City does not use costs and

efforts by a department for each focus area to determine budget appropriations

for that department. The currently established performance measures do not

consistently measure outcomes of operations and therefore cannot be used to

evaluate departmental performance.

If the City is committed to proper controls over budget and use the budget as an

accountability tool, it needs to establish performance measures that are

appropriately tied to achieving the City’s goals and objectives. It needs to

segregate activities where performance measures can be effectively used for

performance based budgeting and gather and use the data for this purpose. For

the other areas, the City needs to devise methods to use performance

measurement as one of the factors for establishing future budgets and

sustainability of the function based on benefits derived.

Recommendation:

10. The CAO needs to ensure that adequate KPIs are developed for functions in

each department that are easily measurable and tied to the City’s focus

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areas. The CAO needs to use the KPIs results to determine resources

allocated to easily measurable functions in the City departments.

11. For other functions in the City departments, the CAO needs to determine

appropriate methods to evaluate functional performance and establish a

performance based budget for them.

Budgeting Process Could Be More Efficient

During the audit scope, the City used the BRASS system to complete and

process the budget. BRASS was replaced with the Public Sector

Budgeting Module within RAPIDS. The City spent $136,000 to implement

the module and related training. The Department was subsequently

informed that the vendor would no longer support the budgeting

module after 2019.

Currently, the budget team is using excel spreadsheets for accumulating

their data for the annual budget. Spreadsheets are sent to the different

agencies and then returned for verification and accuracy. Ideally, this

task needs to be accomplished by an automated system either within

the current ERP system or as a stand-alone module that is capable of

communicating with the ERP system.

Recommendation:

12. The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs to automate the

budgeting process.

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The Mayor and the CAO need to ensure that the

City’s operational costs are controlled to avoid

the use of unassigned fund balance for any

future obligations or deficits.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The Mayor and the CAO need to identify and

provide full funding for all mandatory and

contractual obligations of the City.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The Mayor needs to certify in documentation

accompanying the budget that:

• The submitted budget includes all mandatory

and contractual obligations and anticipated

costs for effective operations of the City.

• The revenue estimates have been appropriately

compiled and evaluated using established

methodology.

• The amount of vacancy savings that represents

the funding expected to be used for operational

purposes and the impact of further reduction of

these savings will have on the City services.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE FORM APPENDIX A

2017-01 Citywide Budget Process

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE FORM APPENDIX A

2017-01 Citywide Budget Process

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The Mayor and the CAO need to prepare the

budget using realistic estimates of revenues and

expenditures for the City.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The CAO needs to evaluate all positions

remaining vacant for multiple years and

determine the justification of keeping them.

Recommendation will be incorporated in the

FY18/19 biennial budget process.

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

6-Mar-17

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The Mayor and the CAO need to fund vacancies

that are realistically expected to be filled in order

to ensure effective City operations.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE FORM APPENDIX A

2017-01 Citywide Budget Process

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The City Council needs to evaluate the

operational impact of reducing the funded

vacancies included in the budget proposed by the

Mayor, prior to using these funds for balancing

the budget.

Richmond City Council concurs with the

recommendation and has and will continue to

evaluate operational impacts when considering

funding changes to the Mayor's proposed

budget. Council is committed to adopting a

budget that funds the operational needs of the

City. Council will continue to assess the

budgetary needs and take the necessary actions

that are in the best interest of the City and it's

residents.

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

Richmond City Council Complete

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

Richmond City Council has continuously taken

necessary steps to evaluate the impacts of

funding changes to the Mayor's proposed

budget. Council's evaluation of any potential

impacts is limited and largely reliant upon the

detail and accuracy of the information that is

requested of the Administration, who provides

the oversight of daily City operations. Prior to

any action, Council has and will continue to ask

Council's Budget Analysts and the

Administration to provide what, if any, potential

impacts may occur as a result of any funding

changes to the Mayor's proposed budget.

Council consistently uses the information

provided by Council's Budget Analysts and the

Administration to properly evaluate, discuss and

consider what is in the best interest of the City

prior to taking any formal action.

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The CAO needs to ensure that departments

routinely do not use funding for the vacant

positions to cover unfunded cost.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE FORM APPENDIX A

2017-01 Citywide Budget Process

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs

to ensure proper documentation of the revenue

projection methodology.

The FY 17' Budget was developed reflecting full

costs of known obligations as submitted by the

Agencies of the City. Revenue estimates were

prepared conservatively based upon various

trend and projection methodologies commonly

used and acknowledged as Best Budgeting

Practices

#REF!

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

FY17 Budget Complied

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The CAO needs to ensure that adequate KPIs are

developed for functions in each department that

are easily measurable and tied to the City’s focus

areas. The CAO needs to use the KPIs results to

determine resources allocated to easily

measurable functions in the City departments.

FY 17' Budget workplan includes the

documentation of performance measures for key

service elements with the FY 19' Budget process.

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

#REF!

1-Dec-17

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

For other functions in the city departments, the

CAO needs to determine appropriate methods to

evaluate functional performance and establish a

performance based budget for them.

FY 17' Budget workplan includes the

documentation of performance measures for key

service elements with the FY 19' Budget process.

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

1-Dec-17

#REF!

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE FORM APPENDIX A

2017-01 Citywide Budget Process

# RECOMMENDATION

CONCUR

Y/N

ACTION STEPS

The DCAO over Finance and Administration needs

to automate the budgeting process.

The Budget staff have deemed the use of PBS to

be inefficient given the lack of functionality and

anticipated vendor support post 2019. The

development of a new budget model is underway

that will incorporate efficient use of

technological solutions to import/export data

to/from RAPIDS and link budget elements for

enhanced accuracy, integrity, and efficiency in

production of the budget document.

TITLE OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON TARGET DATE

1-Nov-16

IF IN PROGRESS, EXPLAIN ANY DELAYS IF IMPLEMENTED, DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION

#REF!

GFOA Detailed Criteria Location Guide Name of Entity: ____________________________

Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program State/Province: ____________________________

First Submission? Yes

 No 

Cite specific page references on the lines in response to each question.

Introduction and Overview

#C1. Mandatory: The document shall include a table of contents that makes it easier to locate information in the

document.

1. Is a comprehensive table of contents provided? ________________________________________________

2. Are all pages in the document numbered or otherwise identified? _________________________________

3. Do the page number references in the budget or electronic table of contents agree with the related page

numbers in the budget or electronic submission? _______________________________________________

#P1: The document should include a coherent statement of organization-wide, strategic goals and strategies that

address long-term concerns and issues.

1. Are non-financial policies/goals included? ___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Are these policies/goals included together in the Budget Message or in another section that is separate from

the departmental sections? ________________________________________________________________

3. Are other planning processes discussed? _____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#P2: The document should describe the entity’s short-term factors that influence the decisions made in the

development of the budget for the upcoming year.

1. Are short-term factors addressed? __________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the document discuss how the short-term factors guided the development of the annual budget?

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is a summary of service level changes presented? ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#P3. Mandatory: The document shall include a budget message that articulates priorities and issues for the upcoming

year. The message should describe significant changes in priorities from the current year and explain the factors

that led to those changes. The message may take one of several forms (e.g., transmittal letter, budget summary

section).

1. Does the message highlight the principal issues facing the governing body in developing the budget (e.g.,

policy issues, economic factors, regulatory, and legislative challenges)? ___________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the message describe the action to be taken to address these issues? ___________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Does the message explain how the priorities for the budget year differ from the priorities of the current year?

_________________________________________________________________________________

4. Is the message comprehensive enough to address the entire entity? ________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#C2. Mandatory: The document should provide an overview of significant budgetary items and trends. An overview

should be presented within the budget document either in a separate section (e.g., executive summary) or

integrated within the transmittal letter or as a separate budget-in-brief document.

1. Is an overview contained in the budget message/transmittal letter, executive summary, or in a separate

budget-in-brief document? ________________________________________________________________

2. Is summary information on significant budgetary items conveyed in an easy to read format?

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is summary information on budgetary trends provided? _________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

* Table of

Contents

Strategic

Goals and

Strategies

Short-term

organization

factors

* Priorities and

Issues

* Budget

Overview

APPENDIX B

Financial Structure, Policy, and Process

#O1. Mandatory: The document shall include an organization chart(s) for the entire entity.

1. Is an organization chart provided which shows the entire entity? __________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F1: The document should include and describe all funds that are subject to appropriation.

1. Is a narrative or graphic overview of the entity’s budgetary fund structure included in the document?

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the document indicate which funds are appropriated? (Other funds for which financial plans are

prepared also may be included in the document.) ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Does the document include a description of each individual major fund included within the document?

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. If additional or fewer funds are included in the audited financial statements, does the document indicate this

fact? _________________________________________________________________________________

#O2: The document should provide narrative, tables, schedules, or matrices to show the relationship between

functional units, major funds, and nonmajor funds in the aggregate.

1. Is the relationship between the entity’s functional units, major funds, and nonmajor funds in the aggregate

explained or illustrated? __________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F2: The document shall explain the basis of budgeting for all funds, whether cash, modified accrual, or some other

statutory basis.

1. Is the basis of budgeting defined (eg., modified accrual, cash, or accrual) for all funds included in the

document? _____________________________________________________________________________

2. If the basis of budgeting is the same as the basis of accounting used in the entity’s audited financial

statements, is that fact clearly stated? ________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. If the basis of budgeting is not the same as the basis of accounting used in the entity’s audited financial

statements, are the differences described? ____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#P4. Mandatory: The document should include a coherent statement of entity-wide long-term financial policies.

1. Is there a summary of financial policies and goals? _____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do the financial policies include the entity’s definition of a balanced budget? ________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Are all financial policies presented in one place? ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#P5. Mandatory: The document shall describe the process for preparing, reviewing, and adopting the budget for the

coming fiscal year. It also should describe the procedures for amending the budget after adoption.

1. Is a description of the process used to develop, review, and adopt the budget included in the document?

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is a budget calendar provided to supplement (not replace) the narrative information on the budget process?

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is a discussion of how the budget is amended provided in the budget document available to the public

(including the budgetary level of control)? ___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Fund

Descriptions

and Fund

Structure

Department/

Fund

Relationship

Basis of

Budgeting

* Financial

Policies

* Budget

Process

*Organization

Chart

Financial Summaries

#F3. Mandatory: The document shall present a summary of major revenues and expenditures, as well as other

financing sources and uses, to provide an overview of the total resources budgeted by the organization.

1. Does the document include an overview of revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other

financing uses of all appropriated funds? ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Are revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses presented either (1)

together in a single schedule OR (2) in separate but adjacent/sequential schedules OR (3) in a matrix?

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Are revenues presented by major type in this schedule (e.g., property taxes, intergovernmental, sales taxes,

fees and charges)? ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Are expenditures presented by function, organizational unit, or object in this schedule? (For funds other than

the main operating fund of the entity, a presentation by fund normally would satisfy this requirement.)

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F4. Mandatory: The document must include summaries of revenues and other financing sources, and of

expenditures and other financing uses for the prior year actual, the current year budget and/or estimated current

year actual, and the proposed budget year.

1. For annual budgets, are revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses for

the prior year, the current year, and the budget year presented together on the same schedule(s) or on

schedules presented on adjacent/sequential pages? _____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is this information presented for the appropriated funds in total (or for the entity as a whole if no appropriated

funds are included)? __________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is this information also presented at a minimum for each major fund and for other (i.e. nonmajor) funds in the

aggregate (or for each significant fund and other funds in the aggregate if no appropriated funds are

included)? _____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. For biennial budgets, are revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses for

the prior year, the current year, and both budget years presented together on the same schedule(s) or on

separate schedules presented on adjacent/sequential pages? ______________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F5. Mandatory: The document shall include projected changes in fund balances, as defined by the entity in the

document, for appropriated governmental funds included in the budget presentation (fund equity if no

governmental funds are included in the document).

1. Does the document include the entity’s definition of “fund balance” (or of “fund equity” if no governmental

funds are included in the entity - frequently the noncapital portion of net assets)?

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is the fund balance (equity) information presented for the budget year? _____________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is there a schedule showing (1) beginning fund balances, (2) increases and decreases in total fund balances

(reported separately), and (3) ending fund balances for appropriated governmental funds?

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Is this information presented at a minimum for each major fund and for nonmajor governmental funds in the

aggregate? _________________________________________________________________________

If fund balances of any major fund or the nonmajor funds in the aggregate are anticipated to increase or

decline by more than 10%, does the document include a discussion of the causes and/or consequences of

these changes in fund balance? ____________________________________________________________

6. If an entity has no governmental funds, is the change in the fund equity presented for (1) the entity as a

whole, (2) the main operating fund, and (3) each significant fund? ________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

7. If an entity has no governmental funds and the fund equity of any significant fund or other funds in the

aggregate is anticipated to change by more than 10%, does the document include a discussion of the causes

* Consolidated

Financial

Schedule

* Three/(Four)

Year

Consolidated

and Fund

Financial

Schedules

* Fund

Balance

and/or consequences of any change in fund equity that is greater than 10% in either a significant fund or

other funds in the aggregate? ______________________________________________________________

8. For biennial budgets is the change in fund equity presented separately for both years of the biennium? ____

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F6. Mandatory: The document shall describe major revenue sources, explain the underlying assumptions for the

revenue estimates, and discuss significant revenue trends.

1. Are individual revenue sources described? ___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do the revenue sources that are described represent at least 75 percent of the total revenues of all

appropriated funds? _____________________________________________________________________

3. Are the methods used to estimate revenues for the budget year described (e.g., trend analysis, estimates from

another government or consulting firm)? ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. If revenues are projected based on trend information, are both those trends and the underlying assumptions

adequately described? ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F7: The document should explain long-range financial plans and its affect upon the budget and the budget process.

1. Are long-range financial plans identified? ____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do your long-range financial plans extend out at least two years beyond the budget year?

________________________________________________________________________

3. Is there a concise explanation or illustration of the linkage between the entity’s long-range financial plans

and strategic goals?

__________________________________________________________

Capital and Debt

#F8. Mandatory: The document should include budgeted capital expenditures, whether authorized in the operating

budget or in a separate capital budget.

1. Does the document define “capital expenditures”? _____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the document indicate the total dollar amount of capital expenditures for the budget year (both budget

years for biennial budgets)? _______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Are significant nonrecurring capital expenditures described along with dollar amounts? (Information in a

separate CIP document does not satisfy this criterion.) __________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. If the entity has no significant nonrecurring capital expenditures, is that fact clearly stated in the document?

______________________________________________________________________________________

#F9: The document should describe if and to what extent significant nonrecurring capital investments will affect the

entity’s current and future operating budget and the services that the entity provides.

1. Are anticipated operating costs associated with significant nonrecurring capital investments described and

quantified (e.g., additional personnel costs, additional maintenance costs, or additional utility costs)?

(Information in a separate CIP document does not satisfy this criterion.)

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Are anticipated savings or revenues expected to result from significant nonrecurring capital investments

described and quantified (e.g., reduced utility costs, lower maintenance costs)? ______________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

* Revenues

Long-range

Financial

Plans

* Capital

Expenditures

Impact of

Capital

Investments on

Operating

Bud

#F10. Mandatory: The document shall include financial data on current debt obligations, describe the relationship

between current debt levels and legal debt limits, and explain the effects of existing debt levels on current operations.

1. If the entity has legal debt limits:

 Are debt limits described? _________________________________________________

 Are the amounts of debt limits expressed in terms of total dollars, millage rates or

percentages of assessed value? ______________________________________________

 Are the amounts of debt subject to debt limits identified in the same terms used to describe

the debt limits themselves? __________________________________________

2. If the entity has no legal debt limits, is that fact clearly stated within the budget document? ____________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. If the entity does not have and does not intend to issue debt, is that fact clearly stated? ________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Is the amount of principal and interest payments for the budget year (two years for biennial budgets) shown

for each major fund (for appropriated funds), for each significant unappropriated fund and for other funds in

the aggregate? ________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Departmental Information

#O3. Mandatory: A schedule or summary table of personnel or position counts for prior, current and budgeted years

shall be provided.

1. Is a summary table of position counts provided for the entire entity? _______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the table include the prior year, the current year, and budget year position counts?

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Are changes in staffing levels for the budget year explained? _____________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. If there are no changes in staffing levels, is that item noted? ______________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#O4. Mandatory: The document shall describe activities, services or functions carried out by organizational units.

1. Does the document clearly present the organizational units (e.g., divisions, departments, offices, agencies, or

programs)? __________________________________________________________________________

2. Does the document provide descriptions of each organizational unit? ______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#O5: The document should include clearly stated goals and objectives of organizational units (e.g., departments,

divisions, offices or programs).

1. Are unit goals and objectives identified?

____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. Are unit goals clearly linked to the overall goals of the entity?

______________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. Are objectives quantifiable?

____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. Are timeframes on objectives noted?

_______________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

#O6: The document should provide objective measures of progress toward accomplishing the government’s mission

as well as goals and objectives for specific units and programs.

1. Are performance data for individual departments included in the document? _________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Are performance data directly related to the stated goals and objectives of the unit? ___________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Do performance measures focus on results and accomplishments (e.g., output measures, efficiency and

effectiveness measures) rather than inputs (e.g., dollars spent)? ___________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

* Debt

* Position

Summary

Schedule

* Department

Descriptions

Performance

Measures

Unit Goals

and

Objectives

Document-wide Criteria

#C3: The document should include statistical and supplemental data that describe the organization, its community, and

population. It should also furnish other pertinent background information related to the services provided.

1. Is statistical information that defines the community included in the document (e.g., population, composition

of population, land area, and average household income)? ____________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is supplemental information on the local economy included in the document (e.g., major industries, top

taxpayers, employment levels, and comparisons to other local communities)? ________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is other pertinent information on the community (e.g., local history, location, public safety, education,

culture, recreation, transportation, healthcare, utilities, and governmental structure) included in the

document? _____________________________________________________________________________

#C4: A glossary should be included for any terminology (including abbreviations and acronyms) that is not readily

understandable to a reasonably informed lay reader.

1. Is a glossary that defines technical terms related to finance and accounting, as well as non-financial terms

related to the entity, included in the document? _______________________________________________

2. Are acronyms or abbreviations used in the document defined in the glossary? ________________________

3. Is the glossary written in non-technical language? ______________________________________________

#C5: Charts and graphs should be used, where appropriate, to highlight financial and statistical information. Narrative

interpretation should be provided when the messages conveyed by the graphs are not self-evident.

1. Are charts and graphs used in the document to convey essential information (e.g., key policies, trends,

choices and impacts)? ____________________________________________________________________

2. Do the graphics supplement the information contained in the narratives? ____________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

#C6: The document should be produced and formatted in such a way as to enhance its understanding by the average

reader. It should be attractive, consistent, and oriented to the reader's needs.

1. Is page formatting consistent? _____________________________________________________________

2. Are the main sections of the document easily identifiable? _______________________________________

3. Is the level of detail appropriate? ___________________________________________________________

4. Are text, tables, and graphs legible? _________________________________________________________

5. Are budget numbers in the document accurate and consistent throughout the document? _______________

Statistical/

Supplemental

Section

Glossary

Charts and

Graphs

Understand-

ability and

Usability

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