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For your final exam, you will act as a budget analyst in the parks department of Parksville. Preparations for next year’s budget (2016) have just begun and the parks director has asked you to create a preliminary budget estimateto help guide her resource allocation decisions. The budget worksheet attached to this document is the standard budget template for Parksville city departments. The director has asked you to complete the worksheet and answer the following questions about your calculations.
 

The exam is split into two sections. Part one contains instructions for completing the attached worksheet. Use the data provided to estimate the 2016 budget amounts and enter them into the budget worksheet. Try to maintain the original formatting in the document as you enter values and formulas. Part two contains a series of questions related to your estimates. Please type your answers in Word or a similar program. Only include your answers in the report. Do not waste additional paper by including this document. Your final report should be a printed document containing the completed worksheet and the answers to the questions in Part 2. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully and address all parts of each question.
 

This exam is worth 15% of your total grade. You are welcome to work individually or in groups. No more than 5 members per group. Each student or group will hand in a printed report by the end of the day Friday, May 1st. I won’t check the mailbox till Saturday morning. Feel free to hand it in early in class, or drop it in my mailbox in the adjunct offices in SPEA 412 (there is an after-hours drop box in the hallway). If you’ve chosen to work in a group, please turn in only one report per group. Remember that I expect you to take time to make your final product look professional. Use the formatting tools in Excel and Word, or whatever software you use, to make your answers easy to find and tables easy to read.
 

Colin and I will hold office hours during the last two weeks of class for help on the exam. Look for an announcement on Canvas with times and locations. I’m also happy to answer questions by email or over the phone.
This exam will be time consuming. Do not wait till the last minute to start work on it.Good Luck!
 

Part One – The Worksheet
 

1) Payroll – The following table shows the estimated payroll budget for the parks department for 2015.
 

For 2016, you expect to use revenue from a new innkeeper’s tax to hire 1 additional full-time employees and 6 additional part-time employees. All employees will get a 3.5% cost of living increase to their base salary. The cost of health care has been rising and your benefit costs have increased to 16% of each full-time salary (you don’t provide benefits to part-time employees). Tax rates will not change. Update the table above with the information about 2016 and enter your estimate for the 2016total payroll in the appropriate cell of the budget worksheet
 
2) Other Expenses – The mayor included a memo with the budget worksheet providing guidance for budgeting all other expense lines in your budget. Use the following information to complete the expense section for 2016 in the budget worksheet.
 
• All Supply lines will be reduced by 6% in 2016.
• Utility costs are expected to increase by 4% from 2015 to 2016.
• Fuel costs are expected to increase by 8% from 2015 to 2016.
• No requests for equipment will be approved.
 
The memo also included the following excerpt from Parksville’s long range capital plan
 
3) Innkeeper’s Tax -The city council has recently approved a new Innkeeper’s tax that will become effective on January 1st, 2016. It’s a 2% tax all sales at hotels within the city limits. All proceeds from the new tax will go to the parks department “to improve the quality of existing recreational opportunities, and to provide for the construction of new recreational facilities.” Surprisingly, the city council made it through the entire approval process without estimating the total revenue from the tax. So, now that task falls on you.
 
You know that sales at hotels make up roughly 3% of all retail sales tax collections in your area and that the total current retail sales tax is 5% of all retail sales. The State Department of Revenue provided data on total retail sales tax collections within the city limits of Parksville for the last 10 years. Estimate the total collections from the Innkeeper’s tax for 2016 and enter the amount in the appropriate cell of the budget worksheet. (Hint: Tax Collections = Tax Rate x Tax Base)
 
4) User Charges -At this early stage in the budget process, you’ve decided to group all other revenue from parks programs and concessions into one category called “User Charges”. The table shows the total collections for user charges overthe last 7 years.Based on the information provided, estimate total collections from user charges for 2015 and enter the amount in the budget worksheet.
 
5) Property Tax -Your department uses property taxes to fund the gap between its total expenses and all other estimated revenue to produce a balanced budget. Use the answers you’ve entered into the budget worksheet to calculate the property tax levy and enter the amount in the budget worksheet.
 
6) Finishing the Worksheet – Now that you have all of the data for your budget entered into the worksheet. Fill in the columns and rows for $ Change, % Change, Net Income, and Ending Balance. Be sure to enter a value for each of the grey cells in the worksheet.
 

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Part Two – The Questions
 
1) Now that you’ve completed the budget worksheet, review the financial position of the department and answer the following questions.
 
a. Are you projecting a surplus, deficit or balanced budget? What is the projected net income and ending balance for the department for 2016?
b. Assuming the total Net Assessed Value (NAV) for Parksville is $410 million. What is the tax rate per $1,000 of net assessed value for 2016?
 
c. What is the property tax liability for a property with a $175,000NAV in 2016?
d. Assuming the same NAV for Parksville ($410 million), what was property tax rate for 2015?
e. In 2015, what was the property tax liability for a property with a $175,000 NAV?
f. If your department wants toincreaseits cash reserves by $400,000 in 2016 by increasing its property tax rate, what would the new tax rate and levy be?
 
2) The parks department is considering building a new pool. If the project is approved, the pool will be constructed in 2016 for a total cost of $400,000to be paid from the cash reserves of the department. The pool willopen in 2017 and is expected to generate $97,000 in revenue each year. It will cost roughly $68,000 per year to operate. It is expected to last 20 years before it will require another major capital investment. Using a 3% discount rate, calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) for the project over the next 21 years. Assume the construction costs occur at the end of year one and that all costs and benefits occur at the end of each year.
 
a. What is the NPV and BCR for the project?
b. Would you recommend building the pool? Remember that there may be some benefits or costs to the community not included in the information provided.
c. Can the city of Parksville afford to build the new pool?
d. Can you think of any changes to the project or the department’s budget that would allow them to move forward with the project?
 
3) Look back at the informationprovided about the Innkeeper’s tax. The intent of this tax was to generate additional revenue to improve the park system, but is that really what happened? If you did everything right, you should see that it had another significant impact on the budget.
 
a. What was it?
b. Why did it happen?
c. What could you have done differently to ensure all the money from the new tax went to the intended purpose?
 

City of Parksville – Parks Department
2016 Preliminary Budget Estimate
		2013	2014	2015	2016
		Actual	Actual	Budget	Proposal		$ Change	% Change
Beginning Balance		202,587	222,752	311,780
Revenue
	Property Tax	1,065,058	1,097,010	1,129,920
	Innkeeper’s Tax	0	0	0
	User Charges	662,884	721,745	679,800
	Total Revenue	1,727,942	1,818,755	1,809,720
Expenses
	Payroll	1,465,138	1,509,092	1,554,365
	Office Supplies	7,072	7,213	6,924
	Other Supplies	27,826	30,330	31,846
	Utilities	19,642	20,821	22,487
	Fuel	43,099	48,271	53,098
	Equipment	25,000	24,000	21,000
	Capital	120,000	90,000	120,000
	Total Expenses	1,707,777	1,729,727	1,809,720
Net Income		20,165	89,028	0
Ending Balance		222,752	311,780	311,780

 
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