Glossary of Terms

The excess of the assets of an account over its liabilities and reserves. For governmental funds, fund balance represents the difference between fund assets (beginning balance and estimated revenues for the period) and fund liabilities (including reserves and appropriations for the period).

A legislative fiscal staff publication that summarizes the budget passed by the state Legislature. This publication is usually distributed a few months after the end of the legislative session. Budget notes provide guidance but are not legally binding.

Funds provided by federal and private/local sources.

Washington State’s legal restriction (RCW 39.42.132) on the amount that can be paid for debt service on bonds, notes, or other borrowed money. The Washington State Constitution (Article 8, Section 1(b)) mandates that payments of principal and interest in any fiscal year cannot exceed 9 percent of the arithmetic mean of general state revenues for the three preceding fiscal years. This debt limit of 9 percent of revenues is to be reduced in downward steps to 8 percent by July 1, 2034.

Also known as a purchase request. A form used by agencies to request DES to order materials, supplies, and equipment, or to request an amendment of a previous requisition. An internal process to initiate the request and approval process.

As used in the context of use of bond/COP proceeds to pay the costs of facilities expected to be owned or used by, or to make any loan or grant to, a state and local government unit as defined in Treas. Reg. 1.103-1. This includes any state or political subdivision thereof that has been delegated substantial taxing, police, or condemnation power under state law or any instrumentality thereof

A projected expenditure level created by calculating the biennialized cost of decisions already recognized in appropriations by the Legislature. These adjustments include workload and service changes directed by the Legislature and deletion of costs considered nonrecurring

A measure of the result of a service provided. This type of measure indicates the impact on the problem or issue the service or program was designed to achieve. Also known as results.

Purchasing card spend data from purchases associated with state accounts, including information such as: all agencies with p-card accounts, their account holders and their spend details; name of the vendor/supplier purchased from; what was purchased, including reference to contract number (if identified); roll-up (summary) level as well as the ability to drill down (granular detail) for third-party reporting suppliers/purchases.

The mapping of security roles, positions, and employees from present security roles in agencies to map employees to security roles through positions.

Managed file transfer (MFT) is a technology platform that allows organizations to reliable and securely exchange electronic data between systems. 

As required by RCW 39.35, the Department of Enterprise Services will review the Energy Conservation Report (ELCCA) for a project. The fee for this review shall not exceed $2,000 unless mutually agreed to.

The functional team is planning for five (5) rounds of FDM mappings with agencies starting in July and ending in November. Throughout this process, agencies will have the opportunity to make updates and adjustments to their agency workbooks.

See: Interagency Agreements

A group of people who share a professional interest or common desire to learn more about a particular subject area or develop a certain skillset; in the context of One Washington, these mainly exist for OCM and the five core process areas, and can exist within or across agencies.

A maintenance strategy where inspections are made or actions are taken on a scheduled basis to reduce service interruptions, reduce the premature failure of facilities, systems, and equipment, and continue efficient operations. Actual inspection and maintenance is performed on pre-specified schedules established by manufacturer or facility manager.

A refined breakdown of object of expenditures relating to particular items or item categories.

A process in which certain portions of the A/E's design services overlap with construction activities in order to expedite the owner's early occupancy of all or a portion of the project.

Electronic payments commonly referred to as direct deposit and automatic debit. ACH is a low cost, safe and green payment method utilized by most state agencies to take advantage of economies of scale by processing transactions in batches rather than sending each payment separately.

The bidder who fully complied with all of the bid requirements and whose past performance, reputation, and financial capability is deemed acceptable, and who has offered the most advantageous pricing or cost benefit, based on the criteria stipulated in the bid documents.

The firm, its employees and affiliated agents. Contractor also includes any firm, provider, organization, individual, or other entity performing the business activities of the agency. It will also include any subcontractor retained by Contractor as permitted under the terms of the Contract. (OCIO) "Contractor" means an individual or entity awarded a contract with an agency to perform a service or provide goods.

Language in budget bills that places conditions and limitations on the use of appropriations. Example: "Up to $500,000 of the General Fund-State appropriation is provided solely for five additional inspectors in the food safety program."

A system for classifying building products and systems by functional subsystem, e.g., substructure, superstructure, exterior closure, etc.

One of 11 classifications into which all individual accounts can be categorized. Governmental fund types include the general fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital projects funds, and permanent funds. Proprietary fund types include enterprise funds and internal service funds. Fiduciary fund types include pension (and other employee benefit) trust funds, investment trust funds, private-purpose trust funds and agency funds. See also: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

The establishment of budgets and the continuous comparison between actual and budgeted results.

A systematic day-to-day process funded by the annual operating budget to control the deterioration of facilities; e.g., structures, systems, equipment, pavement and grounds. Planned maintenance includes: scheduled repetitive work, such as housekeeping activities, grounds keeping, site maintenance, and certain types of service contracts; and periodic scheduled work (preventive maintenance) that has been planned to provide adjustment, cleaning, minor repair and routine inspection of equipment to reduce service interruptions

A fund type established to account for the accumulation of resources for, and the payment of, general long-term obligation principal and interest.

In budget terminology, the difference between budgeted resources and expenditures.

An appropriation made available to the Governor for unforeseen expenditure requirements in state agencies.

Cash disbursements are any moneys (e.g., checks, cash, warrants, credit or debit card amounts, or Electronic Fund Transfers (EFTs)) paid by the state during a period regardless of when the related obligations are incurred.