Snapshot: Appropriation & Staffing Changes from 2023 Budget
| 2023 Budgeted | 2024 Proposed | Net Change | Percent Change | |
| Appropriations | $45,641,696 | $46,427,927 | $786,231 | 1.7% |
| Positions & FTEs | 427 | 427 | 0 | 0.0% |
Departmental Highlights
- The Department of Law’s annual budget increases have grown in recent years, accelerating the department’s overall budget growth while headcount remained steady, in part due to increasing outside contracting costs.
- DoL headcount remained unchanged from the 2023 budget, with minor title changes.
- As with most departments, personnel costs make up the bulk of DoL’s appropriations, with salaries and wages the largest cost category by far. The department’s largest non-personnel appropriation in the 2024 proposal is $1.2 million for outside contracting via the professional and technical services appropriation.
- Salaries and wages saw the largest single-category appropriation increase, followed by a roughly $110,000 increase in dues, subscriptions and memberships, more than tripling the previous year’s appropriation.
- The elimination of the fringe benefits appropriation resulted in the department’s largest savings in the 2024 proposal, eliminating roughly $1.5 million from the budget.
Historical Context
The Department of Law’s annual budget increases have grown in recent years, accelerating the department’s overall budget growth while headcount remained steady, in part due to increasing outside contracting costs.
From 2011-2023, the department budget grew at an average rate of 2.3% per year. Departmental budgets overall increased an average of 5.9% per year over the same time period, while the total city budget including Finance General appropriations grew at an average rate of 8.2% annually.
The department’s budgeted workforce declined at a rate of roughly -0.1% annually from 2011-2023. Overall budgeted positions for the city remained relatively flat across the same time period, with minor year-to-year fluctuations averaging out to an overall growth rate of -0.04%.
Staffing
DoL headcount remained unchanged from the 2023 budget, with minor title changes.
Appropriations
Largest Appropriations
As with most departments, personnel costs make up the bulk of DoL’s appropriations, with salaries and wages the largest cost category by far.
The department’s largest non-personnel appropriation in the 2024 proposal is $1.2 million for outside contracting via the professional and technical services appropriation.
Change from Previous Year
Salaries and wages saw the largest single-category appropriation increase, followed by a roughly $110,000 increase in dues, subscriptions and memberships, more than tripling the previous year’s appropriation.
The elimination of the fringe benefits appropriation resulted in the department’s largest savings in the 2024 proposal, eliminating roughly $1.5 million from the budget.
