There is no savings award for unspent budget. There is no account into which you can squirrel it away or invest it for next year. There is only a reduced budget for next year.

The public library where I work is a private organization, but we receive money from the state department of education for our collection budget. We are only allowed to spend it on items the public uses (non-hardware stuff). We are not allowed to spend it on anything else -- facilities, utilities, programming, publicity, supplies, equipment, development, personnel -- but it helps free up money for those other categories. If we don't spend it all, we get cut the following year. If we do spend it all, we get at least that much the following year, and sometimes more.

No encouragement for thrift there.

(Email from boss to me this December: "Spend $2500 on materials before New Year's Eve. Must meet state funding budget." Let me tell you, even though I had lots of things to replace, it was a real pain to compile that long a list at the end of the year when there's so much else going on.)

So if the social service agency's government budget for furnishings is not spent this year, and the agency suddenly needs to replace a lot of stuff the following year, they're out of luck.

That's the way government agencies are funded. Until punishments for thrift cease, that's the way it will continue.

Regards--
Mary Anne