So, Your Jurisdiction is Thinking of Starting a Revenue Manual…

Consulting and updating your revenue manual is the first step of the administrative process for revenue forecasting.  At least, that is what I say when I teach revenue forecasting.  Of course, when I then turn to the course participants and ask how many of them have revenue manuals in their jurisdiction only one or two raise their hands.  In fact, there are some years when no one raises their hand. Many have never heard of a revenue manual and are surprised to hear that it is step one in a process they do every year!  It sounds hard.  It sounds daunting.  It sounds like something they should probably not start right before budget season. And to the back burner it goes. In this blog post, I am going to talk about what a revenue manual is, the components, and share some examples.  I will also be presenting on this material at the 2021 North Carolina Local Government Budget Association’s Winter Conference and that presentation will be followed be a roundtable discussion of some folks around the state sharing their experience with creating and maintaining revenue manuals.  I hope you will be able to join us. First things first, what is