Glossary
Investing in our future, today:
2023 Strategic Plan & Budget
Annual Budget – a budget applicable to a single fiscal year (January 1 – December 31).
Appropriation – an authorization granted by the Board of Trustees to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes. Temporary appropriations are approved in December, permanent appropriations are approved in April and supplemental appropriations may be approved over the course of a budget year.
Bargaining Unit – a union or group of employees that collectively work with management to establish work and wage parameters.
Bond – a loan provided by an outside agency or entity to finance the acquisition of an asset with a long useful life or to construct or repair public facilities. Bonds are repaid (serviced) with interest, over an extended period of time, typically 20-30 years, with payments typically occurring semi-annually.
Budget – a plan for the financial operation embodying an estimate of proposed expenditures for a given period and the proposed means of financing them.
Cash Basis – the basis of accounting under which revenues are recorded when received in cash and expenditures are recorded when paid.
Capital Project Fund – a fund that is used to account for activities related to large capital projects.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) – a program of the federal government that provides funding for investment in low- and moderate-income communities to eliminate blight, create jobs, remediate chronic nuisance properties, and fund infrastructure projects.
Debt – an obligation resulting from the borrowing of money or from the purchase of goods and services. Instruments of debt include bonds and notes.
Debt Service Fund – a fund that is used to account for activities related to retiring bonds or notes.
Encumber – a charge against a specific appropriation item which sets aside appropriated funds for the obligation established by the purchase order.
Full-Time Employee – an employee that works more than 1,500 hours per year per federal guidelines. Full-time employees are eligible for health care insurance through the Township.
Fund – an independent fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts recording cash and/or other resources together with all related liabilities, obligations, reserves, and equities which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations.
General Fund – A fund used to account for all transactions of a governmental unit which are not accounted for in another fund.
Grant – a contribution by one governmental unit to another unit. The contribution is normally made to for a particular program or project without expectation of repayment.
Initiative – a particular project that will be completed by the Township that may or may not require money to complete and that may or may not be tied to a KPI.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) – a strategic dataset that measures the performance of the organization.
Levy – to assess or to levy (assess, exact, raise, or collect) a tax. The township trustees are the taxing authority, the county auditor is the assessor, and the county treasurer is the collector of taxes and fees.
Non-Departmental – references any expenses or revenues that are not typically assigned to any one department.
Policy – a set of principles that has been adopted by the Board of Trustees that sets the direction for Township staff and is enacted/executed by staff.
Receipts – this term, unless otherwise qualified, means cash received.
Revenue – public moneys from taxes, fines, fees, and levies. These moneys are collected by the federal government, Township, state, or county.
Special Revenue Fund – a fund that has been established to account for a particular set of activities.
State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) – a loan program administered by the Ohio Public Works Commission to finance major road rehabilitation projects.
Tax Budget – a document that informs the County Auditor of the likely revenue needs of the Township in order to ensure that all revenues are collected by the Auditor in the following year.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) – a method available to Townships to increase local revenues by diverting future property tax revenue increases from a defined area or district related to an economic development project.
Township – a township is a body politic, a subdivision of the state, and partakes of state sovereignty. Its officers are elected to administer the affairs of the township government as representatives of the people. All public funds in its possession and control can be spent only for the purposes authorized by statute and in the manner provided by statute.
Some definitions are adapted from the Accounting and General Manual published by the Uniform Accounting Network and the Ohio Township Handbook published by the Ohio Auditor of State.