Budget Adjustment Requests

Budget Adjustment Requests (BARs) and Budget Reallocation Forms (BRFs)

Budget Adjustment Requests (BARs)
The State Budget Act (Section 6-3-23 through 6-3-25 NMSA1978) authorizes the State Budget Division to approve certain mid-year budget adjustments. The adjustments are typically used to reflect more current information about non-General Fund revenues or to transfer budget authority within an agency.

Types of Budget Adjustments
Budget adjustments are typically allowed for:

• An increase or decrease in other state funds, internal service funds, or interagency transfers;
• An authorization to expend additional federal funds;
• A transfer from one program to another program within the same agency, if permitted in the General Appropriation Act (GAA); or
• A transfer between budget categories within an agency’s program (usually referred to as an agency’s P-code).

Budget Reallocation Forms
In the GAA, most of the appropriations for the operating budget specify the amount allocated to each expenditure category. However, special or supplemental appropriations are often made as total amounts without specifying how the funds must be distributed across expenditure categories. If expenditure categories are not specified in the budget bill, appropriations are referred to as lump-sum appropriations. Lump-sum appropriations give the agency more flexibility in managing the funds. BRFs should be used to adjust budgets between categories when the appropriation does not specify a specific category.