FY25 GFOA Budget - Flipbook - Page 82
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LONG-RANGE FINANCIAL PLANNING
Summary:
Conducting long-range financial planning is just one of the many ways in which the District
maintains fiscal responsibility and effective budgeting practices. Long-range financial
planning is informed by the District’s strategic goals and priorities, and is implemented
through a variety of financial forecasting methods. By utilizing this tool, the District is able
to align its finances with future goals—leading to an increase in effectiveness and efficiency
of service delivery. Additionally, much like the benefits gained from a Capital Improvement
Plan, long-range financial planning allows for better informed and accurate budgeting
practices. Through this form of financial planning, the District is able to identify and plan
for challenges appropriately while also promoting accountability and transparency with its
residents.
Methods:
As with short-term projections, the District seeks to maintain fiscally conservative
estimates whenever possible. In the process of creating long-range financial plans, the
District examines a minimum of five years for all funds. These projections are based on
trends illustrated by historical data to formulate conservative rates of increase. Should the
District have more accurate data, for example, from a replacement schedule, then those
numbers are adjusted accordingly. Each year, during the creation of the annual budget, if
future projections are known or suspected to be different, then those updated numbers are
used in the District’s projections. In FY22 and FY23, the District struggled with proper fund
forecasting due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after reevaluating its
approach to budgeting and fund forecasting in FY24, the District feels confident in its
ability to build a sustainable post-pandemic model.
General & Ambulance Funds
The General and Ambulance Funds are the two primary operating funds of the District.
Based on historical trends and current CPI, the District has implemented an initial
projected growth rate of 3.25%, with a conservative decrease down to 2.5% from 20272030 for property tax revenue in both the General Fund and Ambulance Fund. Due to their
consistent and reliable nature, service charges and other revenues were projected to
increase at a rate of 2% and 1% respectively. Though there are a few revenue differences
between these funds—most notably ambulance billing—projections are calculated utilizing
the same method. Expenditures, like revenues, have historically experienced a steady rate
of increase for the General and Ambulance Funds. These historical trends influence
calculations and are reflected in the District’s projections. Personnel costs represent the
District’s largest expenditure in both the General and Ambulance Funds. This is indicated
through a 3% increase year-to-year. Based on volatility of inflation and historical trend
data of the remaining expenditures, percentages were calculated as 2% (Contractual), 1%
(Commodities), and 1% (Other Expenses) respectively. Per the District’s noted methods, if
the District has access to more accurate data, then the numbers in these tables are adjusted
P a g e 82 | BARTLETT FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT | FINANCIAL SUMMARY
