Calaveras County Robin Havens

Founded in 1850 Population of 45,578 (United States Census Bureau, 2012) Angels Camp the only incorporated city in the County

Yes. Calaveras County was made popular by Mark Twain’s 1865 story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Now, the Mission of Calaveras County is to: “…provide service, infrastructure, leadership, and vision necessary to advance a safe community, maintain a high quality of life, while preserving local history and culture, and to protect the personal liberties of all its citizens (County of Calaveras, California, 2011).”

Goals of the Auditor Controller: Seek transparency in everything we do at the local level Pursue adoption of policies that prevent fraud or the perception of conflict/fraud Maintain accurate financial data and make available to the public Follow all laws- even if they are in conflict with “how we have always done things”

Line item format, July to June FY No budget message or narrative Some Priorities, Goals, Objects of note; Avoid one-time budget solutions Balance budget Maintain costs by controlling personnel expenditures Minimize general fund contributions to non-general fund programs Avoids raising fees Strive for a “healthy” reserve fund Developing a high quality workforce that provides excellent customer service Building public-private partnerships Use technology to streamline processes and improve transparency, Plan for capital improvements Developing interdepartmental collaboration

“The priorities of the Calaveras County depend on localized issues that the Board of Supervisors may face.” “Currently the priorities of the Board are Public Safety and completing the General Plan.” “The largest reform was stripping the Board’s ability to make last minute changes in the budget. Line item Budget format a fit for their limited resources

Last Five Years: Expenditure fluctuations due to Recession

Expenditures General Department Totals FY2011FY2010FY2009FY2008FY2007 Total General16,054,36512,648,32614,530,84817,007,09911,947,754 Total Public Protection18,148,57720,469,38122,107,14223,096,59520,535,656 Total Public Ways and Facilities8,138,1876,225,8558,638,5948,996,4439,271,644 Total Health8,677,0679,084,9199,734,8839,044,4727,747,177 Total Public Assistance14,023,93914,027,54314,802,81713,869,29613,183,408 Total Education601,033704,311822,456848,255832,170 Total Recreation and Cultural827,566363,346150,073109,146682,007 Total Debt Service2,286,3023,061,6031,250,255959,256833,402 Transfers Out00000 Total General County Expenditures and Transfers Out68,757,03666,585,28472,037,06873,930,56265,033,218 County Total Bonds and Other Long-Term Debt35,027,54134,986,15135,532,7435,131,1225,645,514

Last Five Years: Expenditure fluctuations due to Recession

Last 5 years: Also fluctuating with the Recession

Revenues FY2011FY2010FY2009FY2008FY2007 Property Taxes16,355,35319,072,27420,742,66718,838,40517,685,084 Other Taxes2,747,6712,663,7783,051,8293,927,6264,254,145 Licences, Permits and Franchises2,108,5412,094,8632,455,0983,066,2104,280,248 Fines, Forfeitures and Penalties1,498,1921,296,4561,556,1182,195,3122,317,820 From Use of, Money and Property1,015,528994,3781,398,7971,389,2261,328,506 State25,949,28123,011,47227,896,31019,964,34121,446,531 Federal9,527,8009,516,0566,975,9568,582,4157,815,237 Governmental: Other512,11085,704142,81968,69786,610 Charges for Current Services6,446,5816,485,1586,193,1125,675,2775,682,426 Miscellaneous Revenue1,445,1871,390,5391,723,3041,929,4641,639,713 Other Financing Sources32,66726,46230,900,8437,762,5797,560 Transfers In652,245001,581,4380 Total Financing Sources and Transfers In68,291,15666,637,140103,036,85374,980,99066,543,880

Budget Principle #9 of the Calaveras County FY2011 budget call for the County to, “Strive for "healthy" reserves and a 3 to 4% contingency fund” Callen (2012) noted that the updated target is 5 – 10% or three months of operating funds. Actual: $725, = 1% Year-end general fund balance approach A formal stabilization fund allocation would be a better fit for long term planning.

“Not Proficient” in all categories except Financial Summaries Weaknesses: No Budget Message No time periods for goals in the Goals, Principal and Objectives Funds not explained/connected to expenditures No long-range financial planning No performance measures or outcomes linked to budget Strengths: Details of fund appropriation, revenues and expenditures Separate Capital Budget

Weakness of FY2011 budget outweigh strengths Budget provide the bare minimum required by the small county of Calaveras to function fiscally No long-term planning or performance measures Little interpretation Especially difficult to track relationships between the revenue funds and their full or partial expenditure Formal, rigid and uninviting Why not provide level of detail in year-end financial report?

Smoother Board process with limits Mid-year forecast of decline in property tax = cuts to FY2012 budget Meager new local construction trends Doubt about the stability of federal and state funding = continuing Board contention Proposition 30 pass avoids trigger cuts to education and the courts

Description: Add a clear narrative that describes: 1) The economic context of the county 2) Lay out the interconnectedness and relationships between the budget structure elements 3) Depict year to year and long-term processes and changes with supporting graphics

Performance: Show how expenditures support Mission “…giving the public a clearer view of what the results of government expenditure are and providing some assurance that government agencies are focused on performance and are being held accountable… (Mikesell, 2011, p. 258)” Citizens could be further empowered to understand and support their county government by the addition of transparent performance budgeting measures.

So long from "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog"