CCM Corrections Budgeting & Administration 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which budget format requires agencies to justify every expenditure from zero each cycle rather than using prior-year figures as a baseline?
- Incremental budgeting
- Zero-based budgeting (Correct answer)
- Program budgeting
- Performance budgeting
Correct answer: Zero-based budgeting
Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) requires managers to justify all expenditures from scratch each budget cycle, eliminating automatic baseline increases.
Question 2: A corrections facility discovers mid-year that inmate population exceeded projections by 15%. The most immediate budget impact is likely on which line item?
- Capital improvement funds
- Administrative overhead
- Food and medical services (Correct answer)
- Training and development
Correct answer: Food and medical services
Food and medical services are directly population-driven variable costs that increase proportionally with unexpected inmate population growth.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of an encumbrance in corrections financial management?
- To record revenue collected from inmate labor
- To reserve funds for anticipated future expenditures (Correct answer)
- To document audit findings
- To track overtime payments to staff
Correct answer: To reserve funds for anticipated future expenditures
An encumbrance reserves budget authority for a known future obligation, such as a purchase order, preventing those funds from being spent elsewhere.
Question 4: Under generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), which type of audit evaluates whether programs are achieving their intended outcomes efficiently?
- Financial audit
- Compliance audit
- Performance audit (Correct answer)
- Forensic audit
Correct answer: Performance audit
A performance audit (also called a program audit) assesses economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs and operations.
Question 5: A corrections department wishes to purchase a new records management system through a cooperative purchasing agreement. What is the primary advantage of this approach?
- It eliminates the need for legislative approval
- It leverages combined purchasing power to obtain lower prices (Correct answer)
- It allows bypassing standard procurement rules
- It guarantees faster delivery of the system
Correct answer: It leverages combined purchasing power to obtain lower prices
Cooperative purchasing agreements aggregate demand across multiple agencies, giving vendors an incentive to offer discounted pricing.
Question 6: Which principle in governmental fund accounting requires that revenues be recognized when they are measurable and available to finance expenditures?
- Full accrual basis
- Cash basis
- Modified accrual basis (Correct answer)
- Encumbrance basis
Correct answer: Modified accrual basis
Modified accrual accounting, used for governmental funds, recognizes revenues when measurable and available (typically within 60 days of year-end).
Question 7: When preparing a budget request for a new community corrections program, a CCM should first conduct which of the following?
- A staffing time-and-motion study
- A needs assessment aligned with agency strategic goals (Correct answer)
- A competitive salary survey
- A capital asset inventory
Correct answer: A needs assessment aligned with agency strategic goals
A needs assessment establishes the evidence base and strategic alignment required to justify new program funding to appropriators.
CCM Corrections Budgeting & Administration 2
Which budget format requires agencies to justify every expenditure from zero each cycle rather than using prior-year figures as a baseline?