Budget Override Authority
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide for temporary bypass of normal budgetary controls when, in the conduct of normal business, a department or agency has expended its approved budget or has incurred unanticipated expenditures and it becomes necessary to issue warrants or process purchase orders or requisitions prior to having the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approve additional appropriations through a budget amendment.
Policy
It is the policy of the BOCC that a procedure exist to permit the County Administrator, as designated Budget Officer, to provide authorization to the Clerk of Circuit Court, as Chief Financial Officer, to bypass or “override” established budgetary controls when there are no appropriations or insufficient appropriations with a designated department or agency funding source. To address the immediate operational requirement, such override will be requested only in situations when it is absolutely necessary and when a budget amendment has been prepared for approval by the BOCC at any of their next scheduled meetings, and when the County Administrator is not aware of any reason why the BOCC would reject approval of the budget amendment. At no time shall the fund be overexpended. The authority to prepare the budget amendment and coordinate the override with the Clerk of the Circuit Court may be delegated to the Budget Director.
In addition, this policy also authorizes the Clerk of Circuit Court to automatically process overrides on statutory payments (i.e., payroll, payroll benefits, and workers compensation payments), accounting system interfaces, and accounting corrective action when such processing is in the best interest of the County.
Budget amendments to correct such overrides become the responsibility of the department or agency through their routine budget monitoring process.
Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the Management and Budget Department, under the direction of the County Administrator, to implement this policy.