The adopted budget becomes a fiscal plan and legal appropriation for County spending. State law forbids overall spending above the amount specified in the adopted budget and generally prohibits transfers among funds over the amount budgeted. The monitoring of the County’s fiscal progress during the year is a shared responsibility of the department head, the Office of Budget and Evaluation, and the County Auditor.

The County’s budgeted ending balance is an appropriated reserve. Practically, this means that a department that appears to exceed its original budget may receive additional funds during the year through a transfer from the appropriated reserve. Commissioners Court, generally on the Office of Budget and Evaluation recommendation, must approve this transfer. Often these transfers result from environmental change (higher-than- expected jail census, for example), which is beyond the control of County officials.

The Office of Budget and Evaluation is responsible for briefing the Commissioners Court on all situations, which appear to result in an over-budget condition. This task is accomplished by a series of interim reports on budget compliance for the year in progress. These interim reports concentrate on historical problem areas (i.e., areas in which expenditures have been difficult to predict) and on newly approved programs with the expectation of enhanced service and revenue. The interim reports also provide the Auditor an opportunity to update revenue projections and explain any variance between actual revenues and forecasts.

The Office of Budget and Evaluation utilizes a complex expenditure model to continually predict the probable unencumbered cash balance at the end of the year in progress. This model involves a mix of methodologies evolved over the years through continual refinement. Some expenditures can be accurately extrapolated from partial-year data, some bear a seasonal pattern and some require the combined judgment of a Budget Analyst and a departmental fiscal analyst to arrive at a reasonable prediction. The expenditure model is intended to offer managers an early warning of impending problems.

The Office of Budget and Evaluation performs the actual transfer of appropriation (if required) based on the Commissioners’ Court approval. The Auditor creates encumbrances against many categories of expenditures to ensure that sufficient funding is available for the entire year.

In addition to the formal interim report, the Office of Budget and Evaluation also prepares and distributes a weekly list of balances in various contingency or Countywide accounts used to the Commissioners Court throughout the year. Examples include unallocated reserves, miscellaneous equipment accounts, tort claim liability accounts, and data processing contingency. In this way, the Court has a continuous record of its use of these funds.

Departments generally cannot exceed their personnel budget since they are prohibited from hiring any individual without an authorized position being available, and all departments are fully funded for their assigned roles. In practice, vacancy savings or “lag” are not available for departmental spending since they have a negative value. This prevents large vacancy surpluses from developing. The Office of Budget and Evaluation is responsible for estimating the aggregate lag in the County.