The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass, Wed, 7/11/12

"City Shifts $770K to Cover Deficits"  By Dick Lindsay

"The City Council on Tuesday night agreed to shift more than $770K of surplus funds to cover other departments that ended fiscal 2012 in the red.
"The Council, with little discussion, unanimously approved Mayor Daniel Bianchi's request to transfer $773,066.94 from several city accounts and departments to the police, fire, and personnel departments, which incurred a spending deficit in fiscal 2012...
"The Police Department recorded the largest deficit at $455K, erased by using a surplus from the city's health insurance account, [the City Treasurer and Finance Director said]...
"[The police Chief] attributed the shortfall to several factors, including officer pay raises negotiated after fiscal 2012 began, overtime incurred by several major criminal investigations, and a high number of officers on disability leave.
"As for the Fire Department, the Council tapped into the city's workers compensation fund to cover its $270,128.28 deficit.  [The Fire Chief] said retroactive pay raises for firefighters led to the shorfall.
"While City Councilor-at-large Barry Clairmont supported the measure, he is worried the public safety service may run out of money again when the current fiscal year ends... 'I thought all along the Fire Department budget was too low to begin with when we had our [fiscal 2013] debate last month.'
"Finally, the Council approved using $110,938.66 from the City's contingency fund to balance the personnel budget.
"Meanwhile, the Maintenance Department didn't have a deficit as previously reported.  Three maintenance accounts finished a total of $66,437.85 in the hole, but the department overall had enough unspent money in its utilities account to cover the shorfall, city officials said.  The Council also approved the intradepartment transfer.
"[The Public Utilities Commissioner] said higher-than-anticipated gasoline and diesel prices the past 12 months necessitated the shift in funds within the maintenance budget."


Sounds fairly simple.  This is what happens when everyone is working toward the same goal: successful management of the municipality.  And this is also what happens when everyone understands the dynamics of municipal accounting.