Deck 15: Financial Administration

Question 1

Which of the following are effects on state courts' budgets by fiscal exigencies?

A) Salary freezes
B) Cutting salaries
C) Closing courts completely
D) All of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some of the recent effects on police patrolling due to budgetary cutbacks and rising fuel costs included all but which of the following?

A) Many officers losing the right to take their patrol vehicles home
B) Officers being told to turn off their ignition when stopped for more than a minute
C) Officers being required to keep a log of all of miles driven directly to their governing boards
D) Some state troopers engaging in stationary monitoring of traffic rather than patrolling the highways

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The budget is all but which of the following?

A) A purview of chief executives only
B) A management tool
C) A process
D) A political instrument

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to Certo,the major pitfalls of budgets include all but which of the following?

A) Ignoring the need to change budgets periodically
B) Increasing expenses each year without justification
C) The manager's trying to execute the budget unilaterally, without assistance from the governing board
D) Placing too much emphasis on relatively insignificant organizational expenses

Question 5

During the first 8 or 9 months of the budget year,the prudent administrator will normally attempt to manage the budget:

A) liberally, spending lavishly on everything that is needed.
B) conservatively, holding the line on spending, until fiscal crises have passed.
C) sporadically, spending lots of money in spurts.
D) independently, allowing no one any input into expenditures.

Question 6

The first steps of preparing a police agency budget are the responsibility of the:

A) city manager and staff.
B) chief of police.
C) mayor.
D) city governing board/city council.

Question 7

Which of the following is not a strong feature of line-item budgets?

A) Ease of control
B) Ease of comprehension
C) Ease of development
D) Ease of modifying the status quo

Question 8

Which of the following is not an objective of the budget execution stage?

A) To determine which section of the agency is the most popular and hard-working
B) To provide a periodic accounting of the executive's stewardship
C) To ensure that the agency undertakes only those financial obligations funded by the governing board
D) To provide for the orderly carrying out of the agency's objectives

Question 9

From an administrator's standpoint,budget is by far the most complicated stage of the budgeting process.

A) formulation
B) approval
C) execution
D) audit

Question 10

Financial audits determine whether:

A) funds were spent legally.
B) the budgeted amount was exceeded.
C) the financial process proceeded in a legal manner.
D) All of the above

Question 11

The best-known management budget for monitoring the activities of the organization is the _____________ budget.

A) line-item
B) zero-based
C) program
D) performance

Question 12

The primary purpose of financial administration is to convey the fundamental elements of controlling fiscal resources through _______________________ a budget.

A) maintaining
B) formulating and executing
C) creating and changing
D) adapting

Question 13

Which of the following is not a technique for getting budgets approved and appropriated?

A) Being a political realist
B) Making good use of graphics
C) Having a carefully justified budget
D) If possible, abdicating budgetary control

Question 14

Some strategies for policy makers to consider for addressing the burgeoning cost of criminal justice activities would include which of the following?

A) Reforming sentencing and drug laws
B) Looking at nonviolent prisoners and special populations (e.g., who might require more extensive health care services)
C) Considering parole reforms (e.g., early parole and good time).
D) All of the above should be considered.

Question 15

Which of the following is not one of the four steps in a budget cycle?

A) Formulation
B) Approval
C) Appeal
D) Execution

Question 16

Police policies and practices have also undergone a transformation in order to adapt to the economic changes brought about by the Great Recession discussed in the chapter.All of the following are examples of this adaptation,except:

A) reduced or discontinued training programs
B) cut back or even eliminated plans to obtain new technology
C) expanded use of technology systems
D) consolidated services with another county government
E) All of the above are examples

Question 17

Which of the following is not an area of budgeting accountability where audits are concerned?

A) Financial
B) Program
C) Management
D) Projection

Question 18

The key characteristic of a performance budget is that it:

A) is cheap to develop.
B) is cheap to implement.
C) relates volume of work to money spent.
D) is easy to operate.

Question 19

Approval of a city's budget is a responsibility of the:

A) city manager and staff.
B) chief of police.
C) mayor.
D) city governing board/city council.

Question 20

The word budget comes from the French word "bougette," meaning a:

A) loaf of bread.
B) service for hire.
C) small leather bag.
D) system of credit.

Question 21

A ______________ has been defined as a plan stated in financial terms,an estimate of future expenditures,a policy statement,the translation of financial resources into human purposes.

Question 22

The most commonly used type of budget format is the line-item format.

Question 23

To help weather the financial storm and become more fiscally solvent and independent,judges and court administrators have increasingly become more involved in _________ __________.

Question 24

Financial administration is removed from politics,particularly after a budget request is approved.

Question 25

The ___________ __________,or a severe,prolonged economic downturn,is said to have officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009.

Question 26

A major strength of the line-item budget format is that it overlooks history,and therefore it fosters long-range planning.

Question 27

Advantages of the performance budget format are its consideration of outputs,improved evaluation of programs,and its emphasis on efficiency.

Question 28

By 2009,more than half (26)of the states had slashed their prison funding.

Question 29

The _________ __________ consists of four sequential steps,repeated every year at about the same point in time.

Question 30

By 2010,______states had made reductions to their corrections budgets.

Question 31

Nearly 50 percent of criminal justice agencies have now eliminated their training programs.

Question 32

Cuts in state and local budgets have forced courts to decide whether or not to reduce court services or to reduce security.

Question 33

Most governmental (including criminal justice)budget cycles operate on a calendar-year basis.

Question 34

The recent financial downturn had to be confronted-and caused budgetary adjustments-by nearly all branches of criminal justice.

Question 35

The performance budget format requires managers to justify their entire budget request in detail,rather than simply base it on prior years.

Question 36

Given recent budget cuts,more and more prisoners are given longer sentencing terms and prison populations explode.

Question 37

Audits determine whether or not funds were spent legally.

Question 38

The word audit means to verify something independently.

Question 39

A disadvantage of the program budget format is that it requires tracking time of all personnel by activity.

Question 40

The budget is a "comprehensive plan."

Question 41

__________ ___________ involves the preparation of a budget to allocate funds in accordance with agency priorities,plans,and programs,and to deliver necessary services.

Question 42

Describe the performance and program budget formats and their strengths and weaknesses.

Question 43

What are some strategies for policy and budget reform that administrators might consider?

Question 44

Review some of the recent effects of the nation's fiscal crisis on police,courts,and corrections organizations.

Question 45

Discuss the definition of a budget and its uses.

Question 46

Eventually,a consolidated budget is developed for the entire police department and submitted to the ____________.

Question 47

Discuss what is involved in each of the four steps of a budgeting cycle.

Question 48

According to the textbook,managers must be able to avoid the major pitfalls that were discussed.What additional advice would you add to this list? Explain your answer.

Question 49

Identify the potential pitfalls in budgeting issues that criminal justice administrators must address.

Question 50

Supervision of the budget execution phase is a(n)__________ function that requires some type of fiscal control system.

Question 51

Out of the types of budget formats discussed in the chapter,which one is the most appropriate format for law enforcement agencies? Explain your answer.

Question 52

Describe the line-item budget format and its strengths and weaknesses.

Question 53

Answers:

Question 54

The key characteristic of a _______________ budget is that it relates the volume of work to be done to the amount of money spent.

Question 55

_________________ budgeting is the most commonly used budget format.