D-280 Budget Management and Transfers

The District Board annually adopts a college budget, which is a controlled spending plan that regulates expenditures and purchases for each organizational unit.

The budget shall be managed per Wisc. Stats. 65.90(5), 38.12(5m), and Wisc. Administrative Code TCS 7.05. Budget revisions shall be made only under these policies and as the law provides.

The College’s unrestricted general reserves shall be maintained under Policy D-630 – Fund Balance of General and Special Revenue Funds.

Revenues accruing to the College in excess of the amounts budgeted shall be added to the College’s reserve. They are available for appropriation only upon a resolution of the District Board that sets forth the need according to major budget classifications per applicable law.

Budget Managers shall control and limit spending to the approved budgeted amounts for their organizational unit(s). The approved budget classification amount shall be considered the maximum spending level for that category, and expenditures should not exceed that amount. Managers are expected to routinely examine the budget status of each unit under their supervision and control spending to ensure that expenditures do not exceed the approved budget classification amount.

However, occasionally actual costs may exceed budgeted costs or new priorities will necessitate costs not included in the original budget. It shall be the policy of the District Board that appropriate amounts may be transferred from another budget category to cover these expenditures. Budget transfers shall only be authorized for compelling and essential reasons.

The District Board has the sole authority for transfers between Funds or Functions and transfers to and from fund balances. The District Board shall review all requests for the aforementioned transfers on a minimum of a quarterly basis. The District Board authorizes the President/District Director or designee to approve budget transfers within any fund or function, all transfers related to full-time salaries and fringe benefits, and transfers between payroll and non-payroll accounts.

Budget transfers for externally funded grants will not be approved until it is determined that the transfer complies with the guidelines of the funding agency and does not alter the intent of the project. In certain situations, written approval will be obtained from the funding agency and a copy should be attached to the transfer request. The District Board authorizes the President/District Director or designee to accept new or increased external grant funding which supports college-related activities with the District Board acceptance of the external funding in the next budget modification.