(1) In every city, a budget message prepared by or under the direction of the city’s chief administrative officer shall be submitted as a part of the preliminary budget to the city’s legislative body at least sixty days before the beginning of the city’s next fiscal biennium and shall contain the following:

Terms Used In Washington Code 35A.34.090

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Chief administrative officer: includes the mayor of cities having a mayor-council plan of government, the commissioners in cities having a commission plan of government, the manager, or any other city official designated by the charter or ordinances of such city under the plan of government governing the same, or the budget or finance officer designated by the mayor, manager, or commissioners, to perform the functions, or portions thereof, contemplated by this chapter. See Washington Code 35A.34.030
  • Department: includes each office, division, service, system, or institution of the city for which no other statutory or charter provision is made for budgeting and accounting procedures or controls. See Washington Code 35A.34.030
  • Fiscal biennium: means the period from January 1 of each odd-numbered year through December 31 of the next succeeding even-numbered year. See Washington Code 35A.34.030
  • Legislative body: includes the council, commission, or any other group of officials serving as the legislative body of a code city. See Washington Code 35A.34.030
(a) An explanation of the budget document;
(b) An outline of the recommended financial policies and programs of the city for the ensuing fiscal biennium;
(c) A statement of the relation of the recommended appropriation to such policies and programs;
(d) A statement of the reason for salient changes from the previous biennium in appropriation and revenue items; and
(e) An explanation for any recommended major changes in financial policy.
(2) Prior to the final hearing on the budget, the legislative body or a committee thereof shall schedule hearings on the budget or parts thereof, and may require the presence of department heads to give information regarding estimates and programs.
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