Page 138 - Southlake FY24 Budget

Operationally, each department maintains the status information on items for which they are assigned
responsibility. Accountability is established through regular reporting to the City Council as well
as Boards and Commissions who oversee projects related to plan elements. The second level of
implementation plans includes our departmental business plans. Departments prepare their business
plans following an analysis of their department’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and
with the goal of implementing best practices associated with the services they provide. These plans are
prepared biennially each spring and are the basis for budget submittal. Additionally, departments prepare
annual work plans which articulate both the connection to the business plan as well as clearly outlining
what the department is planning to do, how they are planning to do it and when they project the work will
be complete.

Southlake’s Strategic Development/Budget Cycle
Establishing a link between a City’s strategy and budget is fundamental to effective public budgeting.
Strategic Direction
Southlake works hard to connect the SMS to the budget process. Incorporating the Strategy Map into
resource allocation decisions ensures the City budget reflects the priorities of City Council. The illustration
to the right depicts the annual process of developing the City’s budget in conjunction with the Strategic
Management System.

The budget process, like the Strategy Map, connects each department to the organization as a whole.
At the micro level, City departments work to provide quality services to the citizens of Southlake. At the
macro level, departments use the Strategy Map to make budgetary requests so that these services can be
performed. As the Budget Cycle illustration indicates (above), the process never ceases. At the beginning
of each fiscal year, in October, we conduct or review the results from the most recent citizen survey, this
aids staff in focusing its work for the coming year. Then a meeting with City Council in January provides
an opportunity to review the strategic direction, followed by the creation of departmental business plans
in April and budget development in August. In order for funding to be allocated, departments must follow
the Strategy Map to align requests with the goals, mission, and vision of Southlake.

Strategic planning plays an integral role in the development of each year’s budget and ensures the City’s
ability to meet the needs of a growing
community. To be effective, the City
must direct resources to those areas most October Conduct/Review
Citizen Survey
1ST QUARTER
Public Hearings & Beginning of the Capital Improvement
essential to the community’s priorities. The Budget Adoption Fiscal Year Projects (CIP) Planning
Executive Team Executive Team
Quarterly Reviews
aim of the City’s Strategic Management Quarterly Reviews Quarterly Expenditure
Control Reviews
System, with its many integrated parts, Quarterly Expenditure
Control Reviews
does just that. Budget Development
Strategic
Management
July January
4TH QUARTER 2ND QUARTER
System &
Budget Cycle City Council Strategic
Workshop & CIP Adoption
Review Financial
Executive Team Indicators/Set Budget
Quarterly Reviews Priorities
Executive Team
Quarterly Expenditure Quarterly Reviews
Control Reviews
City Council Strategic Quarterly Expenditure
Workshop April Control Reviews
Business Planning 3RD QUARTER
Figure 3

138 FY 2024 City of Southlake | Budget Book