Montana Code 17-7-139. Program transfers
17-7-139. Program transfers. (1) Unless prohibited by law or a condition contained in the general appropriations act, the approving authority may approve agency requests to transfer appropriations between programs within each fund type within each fiscal year. The legislature may restrict the use of funds appropriated for personal services to allow use only for the purpose of the appropriation. An explanation of any significant transfer must be submitted on a regular basis to the interim committee that has program evaluation and monitoring functions for the agency pursuant to Title 5, chapter 5, part 2, and to the appropriate interim budget committee in accordance with 5-12-501. An explanation of any transfer that involves a significant change in agency or program scope, objectives, activities, or expenditures must be submitted to the legislative fiscal analyst for review and comment by the legislative finance committee prior to any implementation of the change. If the approving authority certifies that a request for a transfer representing a significant change in agency or program scope, objectives, activities, or expenditures is time-sensitive, the approving authority may approve the transfer prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the legislative finance committee. The approving authority shall submit all proposed time-sensitive changes to the legislative fiscal analyst prior to approval. If the legislative fiscal analyst determines that notification of the legislative finance committee is warranted, the legislative fiscal analyst shall immediately notify as many members as possible of the proposed change and communicate any concerns expressed to the approving authority. The approving authority shall present a report fully explaining the reasons for the action to the next meeting of the legislative finance committee. All program transfers must be completed within the same fund from which the transfer originated. A request for a transfer accompanied by a justification explaining the reason for the transfer must be submitted by the requesting agency to the approving authority and the office of budget and program planning. Upon approval of the transfer in writing, the approving authority shall inform the legislative fiscal analyst of the approved transfer and the justification for the transfer. If money appropriated for a fiscal year is transferred to another fiscal year, the money may not be retransferred, except that money remaining from projected costs for spring fires estimated in the last quarter of the first year of a biennium may be retransferred.
Terms Used In Montana Code 17-7-139
- Agency: means all offices, departments, boards, commissions, institutions, universities, colleges, and any other person or any other administrative unit of state government that spends or encumbers public money by virtue of an appropriation from the legislature under 17-8-101. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Approving authority: means :
(a)the governor or the governor's designated representative for executive branch agencies;
(b)the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief justice's designated representative for judicial branch agencies;
(c)the speaker for the house of representatives;
(d)the president for the senate;
(e)appropriate legislative committees or a designated representative for legislative branch agencies; or
(f)the board of regents of higher education or its designated representative for the university system. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Program: means a principal organizational or budgetary unit within an agency. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Requesting agency: means the agency of state government that has requested a specific budget amendment. See Montana Code 17-7-102
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1), an agency or program is considered to have a significant change in its scope, objectives, activities, or expenditures if:
(a)the budget transfer exceeds $1 million; or
(b)the budget transfer exceeds 25% of a program’s total operating plan and the transfer is greater than $75,000. If there have been other transfers to or from the program in the current fiscal year, all the transfers, including the transfer under consideration, must be used in determining the 25% and $75,000 threshold.