Finance Director Brandy Harbaugh presented an overview of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's budget calendar, fund accounting structure and principal revenue sources as part of an orientation for new assembly members.

Harbaugh said the finance department is preparing FY 25 financial statements while simultaneously beginning FY 27 budget preparations. She summarized the year's calendar: staffing and position requests are loaded in November and December; the mayor evaluates position requests and calls budget planning meetings in January; directors' one-on-one budget reviews occur in February; service-area budgets follow in March; the mayor's proposed budget is presented in May; and the assembly ordinarily adopts mill rates and the budget by mid-June.

"We bring that budget forward. And in month in May, we have a couple of hearings," Harbaugh said. She told members the finance office will return for a deeper, multi-hour budget briefing closer to the budget season.

Harbaugh described fund accounting at the borough: 39 funds in total, including the general fund, about 18 special revenue funds (14 of which are service areas), multiple capital project funds paired to operating funds, internal service funds (for example, the borough's self-insured health care fund) and debt service funds tied to entities that carry debt. She said property tax is the borough's largest revenue source (48% of boroughwide revenue) and sales tax is approximately 27%.

When asked where opioid settlement funds are recorded, Harbaugh said those funds are placed in fund 271, the grants fund, a special revenue fund for borough-wide grants.

Why it matters: the timeline and fund structure determine when and how assembly members can influence spending and service-area tax rates. Recognizing which fund holds particular revenues or grants (for example, opioid settlement money in fund 271) affects how the assembly and staff will track and recommend uses during the budget process.