Budget Transmittal Letter FY 2013 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Budget Transmittal Letter FY 2013 - Assignment Example The financial constraints over the past five years have allowed us to be more disciplined while still exercising some level of prudence. This is so as we ensure that we do what we have agreed to get done in the interest of serving the community. The Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2013 which is hereby transmitted takes into consideration the fundamental needs and the priorities that will help to improve or maintain the quality of life of the people in the community. The strategies that have been employed in preparing the Fiscal Year 2013 Proposed Budget has taken the approach of reducing departmental expenditures, government reform and new sources of generating revenue to boost shortfall. Each department will receive an amount that is proportional to the expenses that are expected to be incurred. We continue our quest and commitment to sustainability and this has been demonstrated in the time that has been spent examining and assessing priorities relating to the costs and services th at can be reduced. A high level of fiscal discipline on the part of stakeholders is still encouraged as in previous years. The approach that was taken in preparing the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2013 is as follows: i. ... After all the above were accomplished, had the task of recommending the reductions that would facilitate the balancing of the budget in order to ensure its consistency with the overall goals of the City Council. There are still challenges even though we are recovering from the recession. In the previous Fiscal Year we identified structural deficits relating to that period, the current period and Fiscal Year 2014. Structural deficits have now been identified for Fiscal Year 2013 to the tune of $16.4 million. Departments are still encouraged to review their operations to determine where possible any additional cost reductions that might be possible. In taking a strategic approach which we established starting with the Fiscal Year 2012, we have been looking at the solutions that may be possible for the next three to five years. The operating budget is expected to be around $700 million and from this over $20 million is expected to be cut in order for the district to remain fiscally stab le (Puente 2012). See Appendix 1 and 2 for some of the reductions that have been proposed. The increased cost of employee retirements continues to represent a major part of the deficit and uncertainties still abound in respect of the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). The investments are not likely to recover what was expected in the initial period and so pension reforms are likely to continue until a surplus is generated. The returns on pension investments are expected to be about 7.75% and will not be able to cover the costs of pensions fully. There are continuing efforts to get employees to contribute more to their pension costs. There are some groups that have decided to increase their contributions. These include employees in the police department