BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Outcome Based Budgeting Process Fiscal Year 2010 is the third year for the outcome-based budget process in Broward County. The process puts additional focus on results or “outcomes” in the development of the budget.

These

outcomes are the results the County Commission has determined to be of high priority. In addition to focusing on outcomes, the process is also zero-based, meaning that continued funding for existing programs or expenses is not assumed. The Board of County Commissioners has consistently balanced the demands for services with the need for responsible stewardship of public money from taxpayers facing ever greater financial burdens. By taking a proactive approach to budgeting, Broward was prepared when the Legislature mandated the rollback of property taxes in FY2008, and again when the approval of Amendment 1 reduced the tax roll for FY2009.

Faced with an additional 11% reduction in property values and declining revenues for

FY2010, the County’s Outcome Based Budget process ensures that attention is focused on minimizing the impact on the highest priority services. Broward County’s Outcome Based Budgeting approach builds on the concepts described in Osborne and Hutchinson’s book The Price of Government. The principal idea is that taxpayers pay a price for the services provided. Just as a buyer seeks the best price for the goods or services to be purchased, so too should the County provide the services that the citizens of Broward want, at the best possible “price”. The fundamentals of Outcome Based Budgeting are: 

Zero-Based means that no program, and no expense, is to be taken for granted. Starting at “zero”, each is carefully scrutinized against the program goals the Board of County Commissioners has established as key priorities.

Is the program a goal of the

Commission? How much funding should be allocated, if any? Do the benefits and results justify the cost? Could expenditures be reduced while still achieving a desired level of service? Are users of programs paying an appropriate proportion of the cost of providing this service or should fees be increased? 

Performance Based means that each program is evaluated based on the performance it delivers, not the activities it conducts.



Outcome Driven means that budget decisions are based on data showing the end result of the service provided. Is it the intended outcome?

How efficient is the process or

program that produces the outcome? Do the results justify continuing the program and the

4

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

amount of funds to be budgeted, or is there a better way? Are there duplicative services being provided by County or outside organizations public and private?

Evaluation of program results during the Outcome Budgeting process was based on the vision areas and goals established by the Board of County Commissioners. Results Teams were organized around these vision areas. The teams were comprised of staff from County departments that deliver services in the team’s vision area. Staff from agencies that are not involved in the vision area were on the team to represent an “outside” perspective. Teams were led by staff from the County Administrator’s Office and Department Directors, and each team included representation from the Office of Management and Budget. The Teams were tasked with developing options for reducing budgets for their respective program areas by 20% with the least impact on outcomes and services. The Teams analyzed the options proposed by agencies to develop their Team’s reduction recommendations. To evaluate efficiency, agencies provided benchmarked efficiency measures to compare the County’s cost to achieve a particular result with costs for other comparable jurisdictions. Agencies also provided the data necessary for the Teams to do traditional budget analysis such as review of historical spending data, and the impact of eliminating vacant positions to ensure every dollar budgeted is necessary to achieve the intended results. To evaluate effectiveness, agencies reviewed outcome and client benefit measures and benchmarking data when available. The Team’s reduction recommendations ranged from reductions in expenses with minimal impact to significant service level reductions. Once the Teams completed their recommendations, these options were presented to the County Commission at budget workshops. The final pre-budget workshop provided the County Administrator policy direction on the level of property taxes to certify to the Property Appraiser’s office. The County Commission will hold one more workshop in August prior to the two public hearings in September required to adopt the budget and tax rates. Major operating budgets and capital programs that are not property tax-supported will be reviewed at this workshop.

5

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Overview of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget The County provides many services with its funds, which staff has categorized into four broad service areas. Regional services are those that the County provides countywide. Contract regional services include those that the County Commission has determined to be available to all County residents by contract such as Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) road patrol, and building and permitting services. Municipal services are those that the County provides to the unincorporated area only that will be provided by a City once the areas are annexed into cities. When all of the unincorporated area is annexed, the County will no longer be providing these services. The final category is internal services which include the support services that the County must provide to itself to do business. The chart on the next page shows all the county services under the four categories that have been described:

6

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Regional Services

Contract Regional Services*

Municipal Services

Internal Services

Airport

Road Patrol

Code Enforcement

Accounting

Animal Care & Regulation

Building Code Services

Garbage Collection

Audit Services

Auto Tag Licensing

Fire Rescue Municipal-

Lot Clearing

Collection & Investment of

Civil Rights Protection Collection of Taxes

Level Services* Aquatic Weed Control

Neighborhood Parks Neighborhood Planning

Revenues Comprehensive Planning

Consumer Affairs

Neighborhood Roads

County Administration

Contractor Licensing

School Crossing Guards

Equal Opportunity

Convention Center

Zoning Code Services

Facility Construction/Facilities

Cultural Programs

Maintenance

Detention/Corrections

Fleet Services

Economic Development

Human Resources

Elections Administration

Information Technology

Emergency Management

Intergovernmental Relations

Environmental Protection

Internal Investigations

Health Care

Legal Services

Housing Programs

Management & Budget

Homeless Programs

Phone Services

Human Services

Purchasing

Land Use Planning & Development

Records Storage

Management

Radio Maintenance

Law Enforcement, Specialized

Risk Management

Services Libraries Medical Examiner Services Mosquito Control Nuisance Abatement Plat Review Port

* Contract regional services are funded by contractual payments from the cities

Property Assessment Recording Official & Public Records Documents Redevelopment Regional Communications Regional Parks Road Construction and Maintenance (County roads only) Small Business Opportunity Services Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Tourism Development Traffic Engineering Transit Transportation Planning Trauma Mgmt Services Value Adjustment Board Water Management

7

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Another way to view the budget is to categorize the expenses according to the type of expense, i.e., operating budget, capital budget or debt service budget.

The following chart illustrates where the

resources are allocated:

Operating 73%

Debt Service 12%

Capital 15%

The Operating Budget includes the ongoing activities of the County government – from enterprise operations, which are totally user fee supported, to special purpose operations, which are user fee and grant supported; to general purpose operations, which are supported by a mixture of user fees, assessments, ad valorem taxes, and other revenues. The Capital Budget includes all major construction projects funded by a variety of funding sources. The most significant revenues are taxes, bond and loan proceeds, grants, user fees, and fund balances. The Debt Service Budget provides for payment of principal and interest on revenue and general obligation (voted) bonds and the required reserves. The following graphs provide an overview of the major activities funded in the operating, capital and debt service budgets:

8

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Operating (Millions) Reserves & Non-Departmental

$258.3

Boards & Agencies

$59.9

Transportation

$131.6

Public Works

$351.0

Port Everglades

$97.0

Human Services

$138.0

Finance

$266.8

Envir Protect & Growth Mgmt

$41.9

Community Services

$108.0

Aviation

$180.9

Elected/Judicial

$786.5

County Admin/Commission

$26.6 $0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

$800

Debt Service (Millions)

Gas Tax Bond

$5.8

Solid Waste/Resource Recovery

$11.4

Non-Ad Valorem

$50.6

Port Everglades

$42.6

Water/Waste Water

$60.1

Convention Center

$9.6

Aviation

$137.9

Civic Arena

$19.2

General Obligation

$73.3 $0

$20

$40

$60

9

$80

$100

$120

$140

$160

BROWARD COUNTY BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

Capital (Millions)

$7.6

Human Services

$12.0

Public Safety

$28.5

General Government Facilities and Equipment

$12.0

Unincorporated Neighborhood Improvements

$23.2

Recreation, Tourism and Environmental

$72.2

Port Everglades

$42.7

Water & Wastewater and Waste & Recycling

$83.2

Transportation

$151.7

Aviation

$0.0

$25.0

$50.0

$75.0

$100.0

$125.0

$150.0

$175.0

To understand the County Budget, it is necessary to view it from the perspective of both Revenues and Appropriations. The next two sections describe how the budget is supported by Revenues and the major changes to Appropriations from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010.

10