FOUND OF BUDGETING AND FINANCE

Evaluate the County’s overall fiscal condition in 2014 using at least:
one revenue indicator
one expenditure indicator
two operating position indicators
one debt indicator
References to four (4) provided sources (documents)

All are listed on the Financial Indicators tab of the accompanying excel workbook. Categorize the results of each as stronger, midrange to stronger, midrange to weaker, or weaker (also found on the Financial Indicators tab of the accompanying excel workbook). Additionally

Use this information to determine
Whether the County exhibits stronger or weaker fiscal condition
What specific actions the County should take in the 2016 budget to improve its fiscal health compared with the actual 2016 budget (as described in reports and articles)
What affects these actions are expected to have (providing evident financial figures where possible)
What mitigating factors (demographics, service needs, mandates, or other limitations) are expected to affect your proposals

Resources

The following documents are available to you:

The 2014 Suffolk County, NY Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
Various news articles pertaining to the service and demographic characteristics of the county
A Moody’s Investors Services report on the County’s credit quality
A Fitch Ratings report on the County’s credit quality
A link to the Suffolk County Industrial Development Authority website
The Final Evaluation Excel Template
Independent Budget Office report on the County’s 2016 budget
The Final Evaluation Reference Sheet, which provides a general definition of basic terms

Requirements

Respond to the prompt above in a 2 to 3 page memo (12 point, double space with standard margins). Cite the specific information used to support your conclusions using American Psychological Association (APA) style on a separate reference sheet. When citing your own work (financial indicators) simply refer to the name of the financial indicator being used. To receive credit, the financial indicator must be clearly computed on the Memo Ratios page of the excel template provided. If a citation is not given for a piece of financial information or it is not clearly defined in the source then it will not be awarded any credit.

The nature of the evaluation will follow the same rubric used for the Mid-Session Evaluation, emphasizing argument, evidence, and prose as the key components of performance.

Submissions (the memo document and excel template) must be emailed to me before the start of class.