FASTnet
Financial and Administrative Shared Teleprocessing Network, the accounting, budgeting, purchasing, and human resources system developed for Metro-wide financial and administrative management.

Final Budget
Data representing the budget passed by the Council and reflecting the appropriations approved therein. Departments may reorganize their budgets at the beginning of the fiscal year to conform to actual operations that the total Council-approved budget will support (see "Adjusted Final Budget"), and further modify the budget throughout the year.

Fiscal Year
A twelve-month period of time to which the budget applies and at the end of which a governmental unit determines its financial position and the results of its operations. In Metro, the fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30.

Fringe Benefits (also Employee Benefits)
Benefits to Metro employees, in addition to salaries, paid by Metro. These benefits include Social Security contribution, pensions, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, life and health insurance.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) - Business unit
The measure of authorized personnel, often referred to as worker-years. This number is calculated internally by the FASTnet system based upon each position's FTE (see above) and effective dates. Class (and business unit, department, and fund) total FTEs are calculated by multiplying each position's FTE by the portion of the fiscal year it is active, and then summing the results:

  FTEclass = S (FTE x (days active/365) )position

Annual FTEs are based on positions being active the entire year; effective FTEs are based on actual from and through effective dates for that fiscal year.

The full time equivalent of 1 position (1 FTE) approximately represents 2080 hours of work per year.

Function
A group of Metro departments that perform similar activities or deliver like services (e.g., the "Law Enforcement" function includes the Sheriff's Office and the Police Department).

Fund
A set of accounts to record revenues and expenditures associated with a specific purpose.

Fund Balance
The equity (assets minus liabilities) of governmental fund types and trust funds; the excess of cumulative revenues and other sources of funds over cumulative expenditures and other uses of funds.