Page 9 - City of Westlake FY20 Budget

The Town of Westlake * 1500 Solana Blvd, Building 7, Suite 7200 * Westlake, Texas 76262

1. EXECUTIVE SECTION • 89 Ad Valorem Property Tax Analysis – A property tax is an
ad valorem tax that an owner of real estate or property pays
• 01 Transmittal Letter - This section is written to the Town on the value of the property being taxed.
Council by the Town Manager and provides a high-level
preview of the Town’s budget. The letter helps tie together • 95 Personnel and Organization - Since salaries make up the
the core elements which make up the budget and illustrates greatest portion of the expenditure budget, it is logical to
how those elements further the Town’s goals found within apply forecasting techniques that can provide a true picture
the strategic management system. of where payroll dollars are headed.

• 17 Service Level Adjustments - The Town utilizes “service • 107 Long Term Planning - The Long-Range Financial Forecast
level adjustments” to create an organizational outcome of takes a forward look at the Town’s revenues and
being fiscal stewards and tracking our cost increases or expenditures in order to identify potential financial trends,
decreases. A service level adjustment (SLA) is a request for shortfalls, and issues.
any dollars in excess of the baseline/target budget.

• 23 Strategic Plan - The Town has adopted a Strategic 3. GENERAL FUND
Management System (SMS) which drives the way the Town
conducts its business. The department directors contribute • 135 General Fund -The Town’s principal operating fund,
to the SMS by developing a corporate business plan and which is supported by taxes, fees, and other revenues that
aligning their yearly budget proposals to that plan. may be used for any lawful purpose. The fund of the Town
that accounts for all activity not specifically accounted for in
• 31 Community Profile - This section includes statistical and other funds. It includes such operations as police, fire,
supplemental data that describes the Town of Westlake and planning, finance and administration.
its community. It furnishes a valuable perspective when o 149 Departmental Summaries
reviewing budget issues and making decisions related to
allocation of government resources. The goal is to provide a
context for understanding the decisions incorporated into
the budget document. 4. ENTERPRISE FUNDS
• 207 Enterprise Funds - GAAP requires state and local
governments to use enterprise fund types to account for
2. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS “business-type activities”. These activities include services
primarily funded through user charges. Water and sewer
• 55 Budget 101 Overview - This section explains the meaning utilities are common examples of government enterprises.
behind the numbers which are presented in this budget o 211 Cemetery Fund
document. It gives perspective to the Town’s budgeting o 215 Utility Fund
process, basis of budgeting and accounting, how the budget
is amended and the fund accounting system.

• 65 Fund and Department Structure - The Town of Westlake 5. INTERNAL SERVICE FUNDS
has 16 funds with specific purposes which are defined by • 223 Internal Service Funds - Internal service funds are used
federal, state, or local laws. Funds are set up like separate for operations serving other funds or departments within a
companies which must operate under the parameters that government on a cost-reimbursement basis.
were set up when the fund was created. Departments are o 227 Utility Major Maintenance
areas of service that operate within the specified fund. o 231 General Major Maintenance

• 77 Significant Accounting Policies - The Town Council has • 237 Vehicle Major Maintenance - The Vehicle Maintenance
established and regularly updates a comprehensive set of & Replacement Fund (VMR) was created to provide a
financial policies for the Town of Westlake. A full listing of mechanism for the long-term repair and replacement of
policies can be found in the Municipal Policy Section of this Town vehicles.
document. o 243 Utility Vehicle Maintenance
o 247 General Vehicle Maintenance
• 83 Financial Summaries and Analysis - This section gives an
analysis between the current year and prior year budget, as
well as the variance explanations. Several different tables
are presented of all fund revenues, expenditures and fund
balance amounts.

vii