Assume that there’s a shortfall in property tax due to flattening home prices and a dramatic slow-down in commercial building. The County has to make contingency plan. So the estimates from Finance show a potential 10% decrease in the General Fund, which derives most of its revenue from the property tax. The estimate is that the Social Services Fund, which is the primary funding source for the Human Services Department, could lose 5%.

Your job as analyst is to recommend the necessary changes to put the budget back into balance. This will involve reducing ONLY those portions of your department’s funding that comes from the General Fund, in most cases a substantial portion of the funding, but not always.

See the detailed instructions in “Detailed Instructions for Cutback Scenario.doc” and using the “Revenue Adjustment Template.xls.” You’ll also need the “Complete 2015 Adopted Budget.”