Page 348 - FY 2026-2027 Adopted Budget Book

Department: A major administrative organizational unit of the City that indicates overall management
responsibility for one or more divisions.

Depreciation: (1) Expiration in service life of capital assets attributable to wear and tear, deterioration, action
of the physical elements, inadequacy or obsolescence. (2) That portion of the cost of a capital asset that is
charged as an expense during a particular period.

Distinguished Budget Presentation Program: A voluntary program administered by the Government
Finance Officers Association to encourage governments to publish efficiently organized and easily readable
budget documents and to provide peer recognition and technical recommendations to the fiscal officers
preparing them.

Division: A major administrative organizational unit of the City that indicates overall management
responsibility for one or more activities.

Effectiveness: A type of performance measure relating to customer/client/public satisfaction with quality,
timeliness or other aspects of the service or product delivered.

Efficiency: A type of performance measure relating inputs to outputs to express efficiency measures as costs
per unit of output and/or productivity per labor hour.

Encumbrance: A reservation of funds to cover obligations arising from purchase orders, contracts, or salary
commitments that are chargeable to, but not yet paid from, a specific appropriation account.

Enterprise Funds: An enterprise fund is a separate accounting and financial reporting mechanism for
municipal services for which a fee is charged in exchange for goods or services. It allows a community to
demonstrate to the public the portion of total costs of a service that is recovered through user charges and the
portion that is subsidized by the tax levy, if any. With an enterprise fund, all costs of service delivery--direct,
indirect, and capital costs—are identified. This allows the community to recover total service costs through
user fees if it chooses. Enterprise accounting also enables communities to reserve the "surplus" or net assets
unrestricted generated by the operation of the enterprise rather than closing it out to the general fund at year-
end. Services that may be treated as enterprises include, but are not limited to, water, sewer, hospital, and
airport services.

Exemptions: A discharge, established by statute, from the obligation to pay all or a portion of a property tax.
The exemption is available to particular categories of property or persons upon the timely submission and
approval of an application to the assessors. Properties exempt from taxation include hospitals, schools,
houses of worship, and cultural institutions. Persons who may qualify for exemptions include disabled
veterans, blind individuals, surviving spouses, and seniors.

Expenditure: An outlay of money made by municipalities to provide the programs and services within their
approved budget.

Fiduciary Funds: Repository of money held by a municipality in a trustee capacity or as an agent for
individuals, private organizations, other governmental units, and other funds. These include pension (and
other employee benefit) trust funds, investment trust funds, private-purpose trust funds, and custodial funds.

Financial Policies: Financial policies are used to enable the City to achieve a sound financial position. They
are updated and endorsed by the City Council on an annual basis.

Fiscal Year: The time period designated by the City signifying the beginning and ending period for recording
financial transactions. The City of Bedford has designated this period to be October 1 through September 30.

FY 2026-2027 Adopted Budget Book · September 15, 2026 344