A budget manual for British Columbia municipalities

The growing size and complexities of municipal governments in a British Columbia requires an outline of the principals of budgeting for municipalities in the province. Budgeting is set out as the only means by which intelligent planning for the future can be realistically accomplished and carried into effect. Chapters 1 to 5 cover the problems of estimating general revenues and expenditures as well as finalizing and authorizing the budget. Chapter 6 deals with the administrative control that can be achieved by budgetary accounting. Chapters 7 and 8 discuss the Cash Budget and the Capital Budget respectively. While these budgets are dependent on and related to the general, or current, budget,, and many of the estimating and control methods used are the same as for the general budget, they are sufficiently different in purpose and procedure that they each require separate chapters. The manual is designed for use in all British Columbia municipalities except, perhaps, Vancouver whose size introduces special problems of co-ordination, and control not discussed. It is hoped that the manual, in loose leaf form to permit revisions to keep pace with legal and administrative changes, may be used by the chief financial officials and elected representatives in the province. The principals stated, subject to modification where the statutory control of municipalities is basically different than in British Columbia, should be applicable to municipalities in other provinces of Canada.Business, Sauder School ofGraduat