ST. LOUIS COUNTY COUNCIL

Budgetary and Financial Policies and Guidelines

The fiscal year of St. Louis County is the twelve (12) months beginning on the first day of January in each calendar year. Such fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year (301.020 SLCRO 1974 as amended).

Charter Requirements

Pursuant to the St. Louis County Charter, Article VIII, the County Executive must submit a balanced current expense budget to the County Council no later than 90 days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year. The budget must include a complete financial plan for all county funds and activities, including proposed tax rates, an estimate of all income and revenue and all proposed expenditures for current operations, debt service and a capital program.

The annual budget document does not include grant funds, capital projects funds (except the Highway Capital funds), trust and agency funds or special revenue funds that have been authorized by ordinance by the County Council as available and appropriated as received. The fiscal year for these funds is not necessarily the calendar year, nor do the appropriations lapse at the end of each year

The budget document must include, by fund: (a) the estimated income and revenue of the fund for the budget year and (b) the estimated income and revenue of the fund during the fiscal year immediately preceding the budget year. The total expenditure proposed in the budget for each fund shall be no greater than the lesser of (a) and (b), plus any unencumbered cash balance in the fund at the end of the fiscal year immediately preceding the budget year. The County Executive may propose additional expenditures if he also proposes additional income and revenue, but such additional expenditures may not exceed ninety percent of the estimated additional income and revenue to be received from taxes plus the total estimated additional income and revenue to be received from any other source.

Prior to adoption of the budget, the County Council holds at least one public hearing where interested citizens can comment and ask questions regarding the proposed budget. The proposed budget is available for public inspection on the county’s web site (stlouiscountymo.gov) and at the Division of Performance Management and Budget (PMB) offices once it has been presented to the County Council. The final budget is typically adopted by county ordinance before December 31st If the council fails to adopt the budget by that date, the amounts appropriated for the current fiscal year shall be appropriated for the new fiscal year on a month‐to‐month basis, until the council adopts a budget.

The County Executive and/or the County Council may propose supplemental or emergency appropriations during the year which are approved via ordinance. The County Executive may request County Council approval to transfer appropriations within the same fund and department during the fiscal year.

Every appropriation, except an appropriation from general obligation bonds of the county, shall lapse at the close of the fiscal year to the extent that it has not been expended or encumbered. Any cash surplus in any fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward and merged with the income of the fund for the succeeding year.

Budget Transfers and Amendments

The budget is a living document which is frequently adjusted to meet the changing demand for services during the fiscal year. Accordingly, budget transfers and amendments are part of a larger on‐going budget monitoring process. Funding issues are addressed as they arise via budget transfers and amendments pursuant to Section 8.050 of the County Charter which states:

Section 8.050. The council may by ordinance during any fiscal year make supplemental or emergency appropriations from available income and reduce or transfer appropriations. The county executive may request transfer of appropriations within any department during any fiscal year. These transfers must be approved by the council. The council shall, by ordinance, establish procedures to efficiently manage budget transfers and council approvals.

Budget transfers allow for an increase or decrease to any appropriation within the same fund and department, provided that total appropriations remain unchanged. Budget transfers are initiated by county departments and are reviewed and approved by the director of the requesting department and the Budget Director (as the County Executive’s designee). The transfer request is then submitted to the County Council for final approval.

Budget amendments allow for any change to appropriations that cannot be accomplished through a budget transfer. These situations include increasing or decreasing the total amount of appropriations and transferring appropriations between departments.

Typically, budget amendments appropriate revenues from a source not anticipated in the budget and received for a specific purpose. The process for obtaining a budget amendment begins with a department director requesting, through a formal letter, that the County Executive pursue legislation to implement the proposal. If the County Executive supports the request, he formally requests legislation from the County Council who considers the specific request through the legislative process. A budget amendment may also be initiated by the County Council itself. If council approves the amendment in the form of an ordinance, and that ordinance is signed by the County Executive, the appropriation changes are made to the proper budgets.

Emergency Fund

As required by Missouri law, St. Louis County’s annual budget shall include an appropriation in an amount not less than three percent of the total estimated general fund revenues in an emergency fund (RSMo 50.540). The County Council may, by resolution at any time upon recommendation of the County Executive, make transfers from the emergency fund appropriation account to any other appropriation account within the General Revenue Fund (302.070 SLCRO 1974 as amended). Transfers from the Emergency Fund may only be made for unforeseen expenses upon approval of the County Council.

Budget Guidelines

The St. Louis County annual budget process is a collaborative effort involving all county departments, PMB, and the County Executive. PMB serves as the link between departments and the County Executive.

Departmental involvement starts early in the process with the development of revenue estimates. Departmental estimates are then combined with PMB’s general revenue estimates. These estimates are added to fund balance estimates to determine the amount of funding available for appropriation. These numbers are monitored and updated throughout the budget process.

Budget guidelines are developed taking County Executive goals and objectives and available funding into consideration. Guidelines that include information for departments on the expected format of their budget requests and standardized costs are then prepared.

All budget requests are returned to PMB where they are reviewed for completeness and adherence to guidelines are then summarized by fund and compared to available funding.