In most legislatures the appropriation and revenue bills are in the hands of separate com mittees, though in a few States the same com mittee has charge of both. Other committees may report bills providing appropriations, but these bills must be referred to the regular ap propriations committee which finally decides the matter. In most States the various exec utive officers are consulted by the committee before presenting appropriation bills and to a large degree committees defer to the informa tion given them by the State auditor or some specially designated official in his department. But as many State legislatures do not meet annually it is necessary to frame budgets two or three years in advance, and as revenues are bound to fluctuate there can be no orderly financial procedure.
County In the county budget the board of supervisors or county commission or tax-levying authority must provide for two classes of expenditures and may provide for a third class. The first class includes items over which the county authorities have no power, such as taxes levied by the State in the county, court judgments against the county, sal aries established by legislative enactment and similar items. The second class includes items over which the tax-levying authority has dis cretion as to the amount. The third class in cludes expenditures over which the tax-levying authority has complete control both as to their existence and their amount. In New York there is a law which empowers the State con troller to prescribe a uniform scheme of ap propriations for all the counties of the State but he has no means to enforce its adoption or use. Indiana has an accounting law which prescribes budget estimates by each department head but as in the New York plan many of the essentials of a complete budget are lacking, such as a balance sheet, a working plan, a statement of estimated funds available for budget purposes in the reduction of taxation, etc. The new charter of Los Angeles County, Cal., has made a great advance in budget ary provisions. In Westchester County, N. Y., the heads of departments submit in advance requisitions for all the needs during the fiscal year; these requisitions are passed upon by the finance committee and the budget is then pre pared and submitted to the board of supervisors with the estimates of municipal receipts. On tario and Monroe counties, N. Y., have greatly improved their budgets and the latter has estab lished a bureau of municipal_research._ City Budgets.— In some cities the council or board of aldennewprepares the budget while in others this work is done by the board of estimate and apportionment. Under the council plan the estimates of the various departments are submitted to the municipal legislative body, are referred to and discussed by the proper committee, and then, after action by the coun cil, submitted to the mayor for approval or veto. Under the Philadelphia charter the con
troller is the only one permitted to submit esti mates to the aldermen and no one is required to assume responsibility for a definite financial plan or proposal for the next fiscal period. The controller is forbidden to make payments under any appropriation bill unless the total appropriations have been brought within the estimated revenues. New Orleans provides that appropriations must not exceed 80 per cent of the estimated revenues. Under the charter adopted in 1912 the mayor of Cleveland pre pares the preliminary budget from the depart mental estimates, though in practice this is prepared for him by the city director of finance. He may change any item but must not increase the total. The revised estimates are then sub mitted as a basis to the council which has full power to increase, decrease, reapportion or reject items in the mayor's estimate. The esti mate must go to the council by the middle of November, and the appropriation ordinance prepared eat This is printed for general distribution and public hearings must be held, either before the regular appropriations com mittee or before the council sitting as a com mittee of the whole. The committee's report is then printed in the city record with a sep arate schedule setting forth the items asked for in the mayor's estimate and rejected or changed by the council and the reasons for such rejection or change. The council cannot pass the ordinance until 15 days after its publication or before the first Monday in January. In Illinois a State statute requires that each mu nicipality shallpass an annual appropriation bill dunng the first quarter of the fiscal year. In Chicago the practice has been to pass the budget late in January or early in February, but during the course of the year numerous supplemental appropriations are made. All ap propriations are made by the council with the mayor's approval, he having a veto power over specific items contained in the appropria tion bills, which veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote. The controller revises the pre liminary estimates of the departmental needs, and transmits them to the finance committee of the council, comprised of 15 members. After about two months of consideration and public hearings this committee refers the budget to the entire council which usually passes it sub stantially in the form submitted.