Budget at BCVWD: A Year-Round Process
When does BCVWD start preparing its annual budget?
The answer might surprise you: the budget process never really stops.
While the final budget is adopted each December and takes effect January 1, planning, monitoring, and reviewing happen throughout the entire year.
- It starts with looking back. Each January, staff meets internally to discuss the previous year’s budget process, what worked, what didn’t, and what we can improve for the year ahead.
- We monitor throughout the year. Each month, the Finance & Audit Committee receives an update on the budget, along with financial reports that help provide an ongoing picture of the District’s finances.
- At mid-year, we take a closer look. Finance provides updated projections and departments review their budgets to determine whether adjustments may be needed. Sometimes that means transferring available funding between accounts; other times, an unexpected significant expense may require a formal budget amendment presented to the Board of Directors.
- Then we start building next year’s budget. Staff training begins, Finance conducts a variety of analyses and develops projections, departments evaluate their needs and make recommendations, and personnel levels are reviewed.
“Good financial stewardship happens throughout the year,” stated BCVWD Board Member and Finance and Audit Committee Chair David Hoffman. “Our regular reviews give us an opportunity to understand where the District stands today while also looking ahead to future needs. That ongoing oversight helps us make thoughtful decisions and ensure the District remains financially prepared to serve our community.”
By October, all of that work begins coming together into the first draft of the next year’s budget for detailed review by the Finance & Audit Committee. The proposed budget then moves to the Board of Directors in November, with final consideration and adoption scheduled for December.
And on January 1?
The new budget takes effect, and the process starts all over again.
With more than 200 individual tasks involved in preparing BCVWD’s annual budget, what ultimately appears as one document represents a full year of planning, analysis, review, and collaboration.
It’s all part of making sure the District’s financial decisions are carefully considered and that we are prepared to continue providing reliable water service today and into the future.
Learn more about BCVWD at https://bcvwd.gov.
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