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1 <br /> J. Encumbrance Accounting and Reporting <br /> tEncumbrance accounting is employed in governmental funds. Encum- <br /> brances (e.g., purchase orders, contracts) outstanding at year end <br /> are reported as reservations of fund balances and do not constitute <br /> expenditures or liabilities. <br /> ' K. Nonexpendable Trust Funds <br /> The accompanying general purpose financial statements do not report <br /> statements of revenues, expenses and cash flows for nonexpendable <br /> trust funds since there was no fiscal year 1997 activity. <br /> L. Memorandum Only - Total Columns <br /> ' Total columns on the general purpose financial statements are captioned <br /> as "memorandum only" because they do not represent consolidated finan- <br /> cial information and are presented only to facilitate financial analysis. <br /> The columns do not present information that reflects financial position, <br /> ' results of operations, or cash flows in accordance with generally accepted <br /> accounting principles. Interfund eliminations have not been made in the <br /> aggregation of this data. <br /> 2. Departures from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles <br /> The significant departures of the Town 's financial statements from generally <br /> accepted accounting principles are as follows: <br /> • General fixed asset acquisitions are not capitalized in a general fixed <br /> asset group of accounts. <br /> 3. Stewardship, Compliance and Accountability <br /> ' A. Budgetary Information <br /> At the town meeting, the Finance Committee presents an operating and <br /> ' capital budget for the proposed expenditures of the fiscal year commenc- <br /> ing the following July 1. The budget, as enacted by the town meeting, <br /> establishes the legal level of control and specifies that certain appropria- <br /> tions are to be funded by particular revenues. The original budget is <br /> amended during the fiscal year at special town meetings as required by <br /> changing conditions. In cases of extraordinary or unforeseen expenses, <br /> the Finance Committee is empowered to transfer funds from the Reserve <br /> Fund (a contingency appropriation) to a departmental appropriation. <br /> "Extraordinary" includes expenses which are not in the usual line, or are <br /> 9 <br />