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Santa Fe budget staff walk finance committee through funds, org codes and adjustment process
Summary
City budget staff gave a detailed tutorial to the Finance Committee on Feb. 23 explaining funds, org and object codes, encumbrances, and the difference between t‑bars and bars; staff urged posting cheat sheets and the chart of accounts online to improve transparency.
Andy Hopkins, budget staff for the City of Santa Fe, gave the Finance Committee a 15‑minute tutorial Feb. 23 on how the city structures and tracks its budget, saying the annual budget is a “program and policy road map” while the annual comprehensive financial report summarizes actual revenues and expenses from the prior year.
Hopkins outlined key terms elected members hear in budget discussions: encumbrances (monies committed through contracts and purchase orders), funds (the city’s basic financial unit that keeps restricted revenues separate), org codes (7‑digit identifiers that combine fund and organizational branch) and object codes (6‑digit line items that record the specific revenue or expense). “A fund is the city’s basic financial unit,” Hopkins said, adding the general fund is the most flexible source and many subsidiary funds exist for legally restricted purposes.
The presentation also explained the city’s two common adjustment processes: a t‑bar (an intra‑department electronic adjustment used when there is no net change) and a bar (a formal adjustment request with signature lines used when the adjustment changes revenues or expenditures). Hopkins summarized approval thresholds explained in city code chapter 11‑4: net changes up to $5,000 may be handled by the finance director, changes above $5,000 up to the city‑manager threshold are routed to the manager, and changes above the $60,000 bar threshold must come to council for approval. Hopkins noted the contract‑approval threshold (currently $200,000) differs from the bar threshold and suggested aligning thresholds could improve administrative efficiency.
Committee members asked how the financial system (Munis) handles carry‑forwards and grants; Hopkins said decision trees for carry‑forwards are difficult to encode in software and typically require human review. He pointed committee members to an Excel chart of accounts available on the city intranet and said he would work to post the slide deck and a glossary online as user‑friendly cheat sheets for councilors and the public. “There’s a large glossary at the back of the budget book,” Hopkins said, encouraging councilors to consult posted guides when available.
The committee praised the refresher and Chair Eric Faulkner encouraged councilors to meet with Hopkins or other budget staff for deeper dives. The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2026.
