Glossary

Abrogate
A request to eliminate a position. Once a position is abrogated, it cannot be administratively reinstated. If the body of work returns, a department must request new position authority from the City Council.

Allocation
The expenditure amount planned for a particular project or service that requires additional legislative action or appropriation before expenditures are authorized.

Appropriation
A legal authorization granted by the City’s legislative authority (the City Council) to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes.

Biennial Budget
A budget covering a two-year period.

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Budget - Adopted and Proposed
The Mayor submits to the City Council a recommended expenditure and revenue level for all City operations for the coming fiscal year as the Proposed Budget. When the City Council agrees upon the revenue and expenditure levels, the Proposed Budget becomes the Adopted Budget, funds are appropriated, and legal expenditure limits are established.

Budget - Endorsed
The City of Seattle implements biennial budgeting through the sequential adoption of two one-year budgets. When adopting the budget for the first year of the biennium, the Council endorses a budget for the second year. The Endorsed Budget is the basis for a Proposed Budget for the second year of the biennium, and is reviewed and adopted in the fall of the first year of the biennium.

Budget Control Level
The level at which expenditure levels are controlled to meet State Budget Law provisions, generally at the Line of Business level.

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Budget Guidance Statement (BUGS)
BUGS are used to ask the Mayor to incorporate some policy interest into the development of his proposed biennial budget.

Agendas for each budget meeting are posted by date along with links to the BUGS presented at the meeting. BUGS are available for downloading in a PDF format.

If a specific BUG was discussed by the Budget Committee on more than one occasion it will appear on the agenda for each meeting at which it was discussed. For the most current version of a BUG, look for the last agenda at which the BUG was presented to the Budget Committee.

BUGS will be presented during the following round of the budget review process.

CAFR or Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the City
The City’s annual financial statement prepared by the Department of Executive Administration.

Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
Annual appropriations from specific funding sources are shown in the City's budget for certain capital purposes such as street improvements, building construction, and some kinds of facility maintenance. These appropriations are supported by a six-year allocation plan detailing all projects, fund sources, and expenditure amounts, including many multi-year projects that require funding beyond the one-year period of the annual budget. The allocation plan covers a six-year period and is produced as a separate document from the budget document.

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Chart of Accounts
A listing of expenditure, revenue, and other accounts describing and categorizing financial transactions.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development annual grant to Seattle and other local governments to support economic development projects, low-income housing, and services in low-income neighborhoods.

Cumulative Reserve Subfund (CRF)
A significant source of ongoing local funding to support capital projects in general government departments. The CRF consists of two accounts: the Capital Projects Account and the Revenue Stabilization Account. The Capital Projects Account has four existing subaccounts: REET I, REET II, Unrestricted, and South Lake Union Property Proceeds. There are two new subaccounts proposed in the 2005 budget - the Asset Preservation Subaccount, Fleets and Facilities and the Street Vacation Subaccount. The Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) is levied on all sales of real estate, with the first .25% of the locally imposed tax going to REET I and the second .25% to REET II.

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Debt Service
Annual principal and interest payments the City owes on money it has borrowed.

Department Presentations
Councilmembers will hear from select City departments about the major changes reflected in the Mayor’s 2011-2012 Proposed Budget (and the effects of those changes). Councilmembers will ask questions about proposed changes and identify issues to be pursued.

Agendas for each budget meeting are posted by date along with links to the Department Presentations presented at the meeting. Department Presentations are available for downloading in a PDF format.

Department Presentations will be presented during the following round of the budget review process.

Errata
Adjustments, corrections, and new information sent by departments through the Department of Finance to the City Council during the Council’s budget review as an adjunct to the Mayor’s Proposed Budget. The purpose is to adjust the Proposed Budget to reflect information not available upon submittal and to correct inadvertent errors.

Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
A term expressing the amount of time for which a position has been budgeted in relation to the amount of time a regular, full-time employee normally works in a year. Most full-time employees (1.00 FTE) are paid for 2,088 hours in a year (or 2,096 in a leap year). A position budgeted to work half-time for a full year, or full-time for only six months, is 0.50 FTE.

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Fund
An accounting entity with a set of self-balancing revenue and expenditure accounts used to record the financial affairs of a governmental organization.

Fund Balance
The difference between the assets and liabilities of a particular fund. This incorporates the difference between the revenues and expenditures each year.

General Fund
A central fund into which most of the City’s general tax revenues and discretionary resources are pooled, and which is allocated to support many of the operations of City government. Beginning with the 1997 Adopted Budget, the General Fund was restructured to encompass a number of subfunds, including the General Fund Subfund (comparable to the "General Fund" in prior years) and other subfunds designated for a variety of specific purposes. These subfunds are listed and explained in more detail in department chapters, as well as in the Funds, Subfunds, and Other section of the budget document.

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Grant-Funded Position
A position funded 50% or more by a categorical grant to carry out a specific project or goal. Seattle Municipal Code 4.04.030 specifies that "categorical grant" does not include Community Development Block Grant funds, nor any funds provided under a statutory entitlement or distribution on the basis of a fixed formula including, but not limited to, relative population.

Green Sheets
A "Green Sheet" is the mechanism that the Council uses to modify the Mayor’s proposed budget.  A green sheet can:

• increase or decrease revenues;
• increase or decrease expenditures for specific programs or services;
• increase or decrease staff positions;
• add or delete a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project;
• increase or decrease funding for a CIP project;
• amend (if necessary), and vote on, budget legislation; or
• impose a budget proviso on an appropriation.

Agendas for each budget meeting are posted by date along with links to Green Sheets presented at the meeting. Green Sheets are available for downloading in a PDF format.

If a specific Green Sheet was discussed by the Budget Committee on more than one occasion it will appear on the agenda for each meeting at which it was discussed. For the most current version of a Green Sheet, look for the last agenda at which the Green Sheet was presented to the Budget Committee.  

Green Sheets will be presented during the following round of the budget review process.

      Presentation & Discussion of Options (Round 1)
      Final Decisions & Votes (Round 2)

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Overview and Initial Issue Identification Papers
"Issue ID Papers"
The "Overview and Initial Issues Identification" papers for particular departments are developed by the Council’s Policy Staff.  These papers summarize the Mayor’s proposal for expenditures and revenues; describe new programs or initiatives, or reductions to existing programs and services; and identify issues that Councilmembers may want to pursue during the fall budget review process.

Line of Business
A group of programs within a department, aligned by common purpose.

Neighborhood Matching Subfund (NMF)
A fund supporting partnerships between the City and neighborhood associations to produce neighborhood-initiated planning, organizing, and improvement projects. The City provides a cash match to the community’s contribution of volunteer labor, materials, professional services, or cash. The NMF is administered by the Department of Neighborhoods.

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Operating Budget
That portion of a budget dealing with recurring expenditures such as salaries, electric bills, postage, printing, paper supplies, and gasoline.

Program
A group of services within a department, aligned by common purpose.

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Budget Proviso
Budget provisos are the mechanism that the Council uses to impose restrictions on appropriations in the City’s budget.

Budget provisos are included as a part of a Green Sheet. 

Green Sheets are posted with the agenda of a meeting at which they are presented before the Council Budget Committee. Agendas for each budget meeting are posted by date along with the set of Green Sheets and Statements of Legislative Intent presented at that meeting. Green Sheets are available for downloading in a PDF format.

If a specific Green Sheet was discussed by the Budget Committee on more than one occasion, it will appear on the agenda for each meeting at which it was discussed. For the most current version of a Green Sheet, look for the last agenda at which the green sheet was presented to the Budget Committee. 

Green Sheets will be presented during the following round of the budget review process.

      Presentation & Discussion of Options (Round 1)
      Final Decisions & Votes (Round 2)

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Reclassification Request
A request to change the job title or classification for an existing position. Reclassifications are subject to review and approval by the Classification/Compensation Unit of the Personnel Department and are implemented upon the signature of the Personnel Director, as long as position authority has been established by ordinance.

Reorganization
Reorganization refers to changes in the budget and reporting structure within departments.

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Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI)

A "Statement of Legislative Intent" or SLI is used for various purposes, including to:

• Explain an action, such as providing a rationale for a budget cut;
• Give guidance for City policy, such as describing how a program is to operate;
• Call for additional study, such as requesting a report analyzing the effectiveness of a new program; or
• Create a work program for a department and/or the Council, such as calling for a study of a new concept or approach.

Agendas for each budget meeting are posted by date along with links to SLIs presented at that meeting. SLIs are available for downloading in a PDF format.

If a specific SLI was discussed by the Budget Committee on more than one occasion, it will appear on the agenda for each meeting at which it was discussed. For the most current version of a SLI, look for the last agenda at which the SLI was presented to the Budget Committee. 

SLIs will be presented during the following round of the budget review process.

      Presentation & Discussion of Options (Round 1)
      Final Decisions & Votes (Round 2)

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SUMMIT
The City’s central accounting system managed by the Department of Executive Administration.

Sunsetting Position
A position funded for only a specified length of time by the budget or enabling ordinance.

Supplemental Budget
Any legislative change to the original budget appropriations.

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Supplemental Ordinance
The mechanism that Council uses to re-balance current year budget, to take account of unanticipated revenues and expenditures, mostly in General Subfund.

TES (Temporary Employment Service)
A program managed by the Personnel Department. TES places temporary workers in departments for purposes of filling unanticipated, short-term staffing needs, such as vacation coverage, positions vacant until a regularly-appointed hire is made, and special projects. TES placements are not shown separately in the budget document because departments may utilize regular position authority already authorized in the budget to fill these types of short-term needs.

Type of Position
There are two types of positions authorized through the position lists adopted at the same time as the budget. They are identified by one of the following characters: F for Full Time or P for Part Time.
Temporary/Intermittent positions are not included in the position lists, but information about these types of positions is included here in the interests of clarity.

• Regular Full Time is defined as a position budgeted for 2,088 compensated hours per year, 40 hours per week, 80 hours per pay period, and is also known as one full-time equivalent (FTE).
• Regular Part Time is defined as a position designated as part time, and requiring an average of 20 hours or more, but less than 40 hours of work per week during the year. This equates to an FTE value of at least 0.50 and no more than 0.99.
• Temporary/Intermittent is defined as a temporary, emergency, or short-term position. The term includes persons employed in seasonal or intermittent positions, and those employed less than an average of 20 hours per week during a year. Temporary/intermittents can have an FTE value of 0.01 to 1.00.

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