Open Data - Budget Key Information

The City of Dayton's fiscal year is a calendar year (January 1-December 31).

Governmental Fund

A Governmental Fund is a term for a combination of several funds - the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds, Capital Project Funds, Debt Service Funds, and Permanent Funds.

General Fund

The City's main fund is the General Fund. The General Fund accounts for most of the major services associated with local government such as police, fire and paramedic services, parks and recreation, and public works. Since 2001, the General Fund has been reduced 9.4%, from $174.1 million to an estimated $157.8 million in 2015, due to large cuts in funding from the State of Ohio, a weak state and regional economy, and a weakened tax base. In addition, costs have increased during this period with inflation totaling 34.8% from 2001 to 2015. The primary sources of revenue for the General Fund are Taxes (72% of General Fund); Charges for Services (16% of General Fund); Intergovernmental (7% of the General Fund) and Fines and Forfeitures (2% of General Fund).

Property Tax

Property tax does not provide a large proportion of the City's revenues, only about 3.4% of the General Fund. In the city of Dayton, most property tax revenues go to school districts, organizations funded by the Human Services Levy, Sinclair Community College, Five Rivers MetroParks, and the Dayton Metro Library. In 2015, Dayton residential properties located within the Dayton Public Schools district were assessed 87.45 mills of property tax. Of the 87.45 mills, only 10 mills went to the City of Dayton.

Special Revenue Funds

The City has several Special Revenue funds. These funds account for the proceeds of specific revenue sources (other than trusts or major capital projects) that are legally restricted to expenditures for specific purposes. Examples include the following:

• Restricted state and federal grants-in-aid;
• Restricted tax levies (i.e., state license and gas tax)

Capital Project Funds

Capital Project funds are used to purchase equipment such as, but not limited to, trash collection trucks and police cruisers, and to construct capital assets. Examples of capital assets are City's nearly 2,000 lane miles of roadway, recreation centers and fire stations.

Debt Service Funds

Debt Service funds are used to pay general obligation and non-tax revenue debt principal, interest and related costs for money the City borrows over a long term by issuing bonds. For example, the City of Dayton has issued bonds to pay for the reconstruction of roadways and bridges, the construction of the Main Street Parking Garage and improvements at the Convention Center to name a few.

Permanent Funds

Permanent Funds are used to generate payments to maintain some financial obligation. The City of Dayton uses Permanent Funds for Schantz Waldruhe Park and the Forrest B. Lucas DFD Foundation.

Enterprise Fund

The Enterprise Fund category consists of the airports (Dayton International and Dayton-Wright Brothers), Water Department operations (water, sewer, and storm water), and golf course operations (Kittyhawk, Community, and Madden golf courses). The Enterprise Funds are expected to cover their own costs from those using the services provided by the specific Enterprise Fund. As a result, the revenues generated by an Enterprise Fund are dedicated specifically to that fund. Enterprise Funds cannot be used to pay for projects or services that are not related to the purposes of the specific fund. For example, money from the airport enterprise fund can be used to pave roads and runways at the airports but cannot be used to pave streets in city neighborhoods.

Internal Service Funds

Internal Service funds are funds the city uses internally to pay for specific items such as, but not limited to, general liability and workers' compensation insurance, printing, and maintenance and operation of the City's fleet of vehicles.

The data shown at Dayton Open Data is for the City of Dayton only. It does not include financial data for Montgomery County, Five Rivers Metro-Parks, Dayton Metro Library, Greater Dayton RTA, Dayton Public Schools, any other school district, or other government organization.

Some revenue sources and expenditures do not occur every year. For example, there may be a revenue source or expenditure for a specific item or project which the City no longer uses or which is completed. These revenue sources and expenditures will be visible for the years in which they are used and after that they will zero out or disappear. In addition, some revenue sources or expenditures may be moved to another department as part of city reorganization.

Budget data reflects the City Commission adopted budget and revised budgets for each calendar year.

Actual data reflects expenses made or revenues collected in that calendar year. It includes encumbrances, or funds that are committed (that is, allocated) by a contract or agreement but have not yet been spent. Encumbrances need to be reflected in the budget so this money is not spent for something else. Actual data does not include expenses in that year for contract or agreement made in a prior year. For example, if money was spent in 2015 for a contract that was encumbered in 2014, the money spent in 2015 will show up in the 2014 budget because the encumbered money was part of the 2014 budget.

In the Current Year report, monthly data for the current calendar year is current as of the close of the month on the seventh day of the month following the month in question. For example, data for the month of September 2015 is taken from the City's financial system after the September has closed on the seventh business day of October 2015. This allows expenses that occur late in a month to be reflected in the month they occur. For example, an expense incurred on September 29 and billed on October 5 is shown in September, not October.