Manatee County Budget Analysis

CART compared budgets to prior year's actual expenditures. For the purposes of this comparison, the prior year's actual expenditures were appropriately adjusted upwards by the factors for inflation & population growth. This comparison suggests that over the past four years, budgets consistently exceeded the adjusted prior year's actual expenditures by a total of $72M (Note 1).

Next CART compared the actual revenues to actual expenditures and observed that over the same past four years, the revenues consistently exceeded expenditures by a similar total amount of $76M (Note 2). (See table below for more detail)

This analysis indicates that if the county had limited departmental budgets to no more than prior year's expenditures, adjusted upward for inflation & growth, and had adjusted taxes & fees accordingly, there would have been sufficient revenues to support the expenditures, and the taxpayers could have collectively enjoyed over $70M of tax relief!

County's 2006 audited balance sheet shows an unreserved fund balance of $290M as of 9/30/06 with the excess revenues as above contributing to some of this fund balance (Note 3).

Note 1: Source: "Summaries of Departmental Appropriations" from Manatee County's Budget Books from FY 03-04 to FY 06-07. For the purpose of this analysis, the budget & actual figures for the Debt Service Funds were not used and the totals were adjusted accordingly. Population growth numbers from page 331 of FY 06-07 County Budget Book. CPI numbers from http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/limitations.html

Note 2: Source: "Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances - Governmental Funds" from Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) for fiscal years 2003 to 2006, published by the Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Note 3: Source: "Manatee County Balance Sheet - Governmental Funds - September 30, 2006" from FY 2006 CAFR.