REVIEW OF REVENUE ESTIMATES IN FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL BUDGETS

Review of Revenue Estimates in Federal, State and Local Budgets [Name] [Course Title] [University] [Instructor Name] [Date] Review of Revenue Estimates in Federal, State and Local Budgets A budget is designed to determine the allocation of the resources held by an entity to its departments, agencies and other subsidiaries in order to achieve its ultimate mission. The budget includes comprehensive detail about the use of resources to be made in the fiscal year, the manner in which the resources would be used and allocated, the expected return or the source of funding and many other facts. The budget also reflects the policies and decisions of the entity, for example, if an entity plans to develop a specific part of its business, it would increase the allocation of resources to that particular part of its business. Similarly, the budgets designed by the governmental authorities also reflect their policies for the fiscal year for which the budget has been determined. Budgets are formed at all levels of the structure of the government. The budgets to be considered in this paper would be federal budget, state budget, local budget and budget for an agency of the government. Each budget is like a planned allocation of resources and the level of expenditure to be done in the fiscal year for which the budget is proposed. Budgets are significantly important in order to maintain a balance between different departments and agencies of the governmental structure. Budgets are also important to conduct variance analyses. For conducting variance analyses, budgeted expenditures are compared to the actual level of expenditure done in order to determine whether the funding has been done in accordance with the budget determined or there is difference between the budgeted and actual figures. Budgets also help an entity design its strategies and to make effective and efficient decisions. Strategies of an organization are designed on the basis of the fact and figures provided in the budgets, for example, budgets represent the financial potential of an entity therefore before taking any major decisions, the strategic core of an organization considers the budget of the entity and makes its decisions in accordance with the resources available. The implementation of the strategies is conducted by aligning day to day decisions with that strategy. Budgets are very helpful in designing strategies for organizations and in case of government, budgets are important for the designing and implementation of fiscal policies. United States Federal Budget The United States Federal Budget is proposed by the President of the United States to the Congress. The federal budget recommends the levels of funding to be done in the fiscal year for which the budget is proposed. There are certain controls over the budget determination process and due to these controls decisions made by the congress are subject to the rules related to federal budget. The spending limits for the House and Senate committees are determined by the budget committees in order to keep a check whether such authorities are spending more than what is necessary. The committees also decide the spending limits for subcommitt...