Orange County ’ s Adopted FY24 Budget Available Online
By: Orange County Communications Department
Happy New (Fiscal) Year! Last month, Orange County began operating in our new fiscal year, which begins July 1, and will continue through June 30 of next year. Why not match the calendar year? Organizations adopt fiscal years to better align with their preparation, accounting, and reporting needs. With that in mind, fiscal years can vary from one organization to another. For those interested in fun budgetary history, President John Tyler signed legislation in 1842 adopting the July to June fiscal year for the Federal Government. Previously, it had used the calendar year. Over 100 years later, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 led to the current Federal fiscal year of October through September. 1
Orange County prioritizes the preparation of annual budgets that are effective as policy documents, financial plans, operations guides, and communications devices. Accessibility of the budget to residents is a key component of operating as an effective and transparent public body. With that in mind, the County ’ s budget has been readily available on the Orange County website for many years in a PDF - based format. In recognition of these efforts, we have received the Government Finance Officers Association ’ s (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, which is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting, every year since fiscal year 2018. In an effort to keep improving, last fiscal year ’ s budget was made available in a new and more user - friendly digital format, hosted by ClearGov, a provider of cloud - based budget and performance management software. The new digital format enhanced the adopted budget ’ s accessibility online for public viewing. This year ’ s budget, adopted April 25, 2023, is available online using the new format. For those that prefer to view or print a traditional PDF - based budget book, that option is available alongside the digital platform. This adopted budget, as well as those of recent years, is easily accessible on the budget page of the County ’ s website. Archived budgets are viewable going back through fiscal year 2010.
1 Bill Heniff Jr., The Fiscal Year, Report for Congress 98 - 325 (Congressional Research Service, CRS 98 - 325, June 17, 2008).
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