Glossary | TransparentNH

	Glossary Below you'll find references for terms frequently used on this Web site and in our reports.

General Terms | Funding Terms | Pay Category Terms | Revenue Terms | Expenditure Terms

General Terms

Agency: Any department, commission, board, institution, bureau, office, or other entity established by the state constitution, statute, session law, or executive order.
Appropriation: An authorization granted by a legislative body to make expenditures and to incur obligations for specific purposes.
Budget Request: A detailed outline of an agency's financial needs for the next fiscal year.
Capital Budget: The budget associated with acquisition or construction of major capital items, including land, buildings and structures, and equipment. Funds for these projects are usually appropriated from surpluses, earmarked revenues, or from bond sales.
Department: The principal administrative unit within the executive branch of state government, concerned with broad functional responsibilities. Departments are headed by commissioners or executive directors. Example: Department of Health and Human Services.
Expenditure: The payment of money from a state fund for the purchase of goods and services.
Fund: A fund is a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts, which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations.
Fiscal Year (FY): A 12-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year that is used as the state budget, accounting, and appropriation period.
General Fund: General fund refers to revenues accruing to the state from taxes, fees, interest earnings, and other sources which can be used for the general operation of state government. more...
Operating Budget: The operating budget is the budget established for operation of a state agency or program, typically based on legislative appropriation.
Payments: Disbursement of funds to vendors owed for goods purchased and/or services rendered during the fiscal year.
Program: A set of related operations that follows a planned course of action to achieve a specified purpose and set of objectives. Programs classify agency services and provide a framework for resource allocations decisions.
Travel Reimbursements: Transportation, meals, hotel and other costs associated with employee travel.
Vendor: Any business, individual, corporation, or other entity that receives payment from state government as the result of providing goods or services, or receiving benefits, grants or other assistance.

Funding Terms

Capital Projects Fund: This is a fund created to account for, and report on, financial resources to be used for the acquisition or construction of major capital facilities, separately from ongoing operating activities.
Education Trust Fund: The Education Trust Fund was established to distribute adequate education grants to school districts. more...
Fish and Game Fund: The operations of the State Fish and Game Department, are financed through the Fish and Game Fund. more...
Fund: A fund is a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts, which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations.

Fund Accounting: A significant means of controlling financial activities in non-profit and governmental operations is the concept of Fund Accounting. more...
General Fund: General fund refers to revenues accruing to the state from taxes, fees, interest earnings, and other sources which can be used for the general operation of state government. more...
Highway Fund: All revenues in excess of the necessary cost of collection and administration are appropriated and used exclusively for the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of public highways within this state. more...
Internal Service Fund: The employee benefit risk management fund controls the health related fringe benefit services for the state. more...
Liquor Funds: Receipts from operations of the Liquor Commission are transferred to the General Fund on a daily basis. The General Fund advances cash to the Liquor Commission for the purchase of liquor inventory. more...
Lottery Funds: The state sells lottery games through some 1,350 agents, including state liquor stores, licensed racetracks, and private retail outlets. more...
Turnpike System Fund: The New Hampshire Turnpike System is a bureau within the Division of Operations of the State of NH Department of Transportation. more...

Pay Category Terms

Holiday Pay: Additional compensation for work on a holiday defined under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Other Pay Item: Lump sum and other payments associated with earned leave time, termination benefits or other earned benefits.
Overtime: The additional payment associated with overtime or work shift differential.
Regular Pay: The pay associated with the base hourly, weekly, or annual salary rate defined under the classified or non-classified pay schedule.
Reportable Fringe Benefit: The amount of income added to an employee´s pay to report the value of a fringe benefit provided which is deemed taxable under the revenue code.
Special Duty: Amounts of additional pay associated with duties which are extra, hazardous, or incremental in effort, as defined under Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Revenue Terms

Business Taxes: Business Taxes are comprised of the Business Profits Tax (BPT) and the Business Enterprise Tax (BET). more...
Communications Services Tax: First enacted in 1990 at 5.5%, this tax was assessed upon two-way communications services. more...
Education Property Tax: Under Chapter 17, Laws of 1999, the Education Property Tax was established. The tax is assessed and collected by municipalities. more...
Electricity Consumption Tax: Effective May 1, 2001, the Electricity Consumption Tax is imposed at a rate of $ .00055 per kilowatt hour on persons, more...
Insurance Tax: The Insurance tax is equal to 2% of premiums on policies that insure risks within the State. The tax also applies to certain nonprofit health insurers and dental insurers. more...
Interest and Dividends tax: The Interest & Dividends (I&D) Tax, which was first enacted in 1923, applied a tax based on the "average rate of property taxation" upon the income and dividend income received by NH residents from sources other than NH and Vermont banks. more...
Liquor Sales and Distribution: By statute, all liquor sold in New Hampshire must be sold through a sales and distribution system operated by the State Liquor Commission. more...
Local Property Tax: Property taxes, based upon local assessed valuations, are administered and collected by the individual cities and towns. more...
Lottery and Charitable Gaming: Beginning in fiscal year 2000, the Lottery Commission remits all net profits to the Education Trust Fund (ETF) on a monthly basis. more...
Meals and Rentals Tax: The Meals and Rentals (M&R) Tax was enacted in 1967 at a rate of 5% more...
Net Medicaid Enhancement Revenues: The State's Net Medicaid Enhancement revenues represent collections from New Hampshire's hospitals. The major component is the annual 6% tax charged on every hospital's net patient service revenues. more...
Railroad Tax: Every railroad, railway, express, and every parlor, sleeping or dining car company, or other company not a railroad company owning any cars operated for profit on any railroad in the State of New Hampshire shall pay an annual Railroad Tax as of April 1 of each year. more...
Real Estate Transfer Tax: The Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) was first enacted in 1967. Chapter 17, Laws of 1999, increased the permanent tax rate assessed on the sale, granting, and transfer of real estate and any interest in real estate to $.75 per $100, or fractional part thereof, of the price or consideration. more...
Statewide Property Tax: A New Hampshire Supreme Court decision requires the State to provide an adequate public education, and to guarantee adequate funding. more...
Tobacco Tax and Settlement: The Tobacco Tax is a direct tax upon the consumer at retail. more...
Utility Property Tax: Utility property is defined as "all real estate, buildings, and structures, machinery, dynamos, apparatus, poles, wires, fixtures of all kinds and descriptions, and pipe lines located within New Hampshire employed in the generation, production, supply, distribution, transmission, or transportation of electric powered or natural gas, crude petroleum and refined petroleum products or combination thereof, water, or sewage." more...

Expenditure Terms

Account

The account represents a transaction description at the lowest level in the State Expenditure Register.

Account Code

A numeric code designating Account.

Accounting Unit

This level represents an individual group of authorized appropriations, which either independently or when considered together with other accounting units, represent the funding available to implement a program or business support function within an agency.

Accounting Unit Code

A numeric code designating Accounting Unit.

Activity Project Description

The Activity level represents a set of related operations that follows a planned course of action to achieve a specified purpose and set of objectives. Programs within each activity classify agency services, and provide a framework for resource allocation decisions.

Activity Project Number

A numeric code designating Activity.

Agency

Any department, commission, board, institution, bureau, office, or other entity established by the state constitution, statute, session law, or executive order. Agencies may exist as stand alone entities, or by the authority noted previously, they may be grouped as program units into a Department. Example: The Department of Health and Human Services is comprised of ten agencies.

Agency Code

A numeric code designating Agency

Amount

The dollar amount for the transaction line in U.S. Dollars.

Calendar Month and Year

Self Explanatory.

Company

A company is a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts, which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations (also known as FUND).

Company Code

A numeric code designating Company.

Expenditure Class

The expenditure class represents the classification for each type of payment made against appropriations. Appropriations are authorized to be made at the class level.

Expenditure Class Code

A numeric code designating Expenditure Class.

Fiscal Month

A 12-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year that is used as the state budget, accounting, and appropriation period.

Fiscal Year

A 12-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year that is used as the state budget, accounting, and appropriation period.

Government Category

The Government Category is a grouping of agencies which make expenditures for similar programs and purposes. There are six categories of government: (1) General Government, (2) Administration of Justice and Public Protection, (3) Resource Protection and Development, (4) Transportation, (5) Health and Social Services, and (6) Education.

Government Category Code

A numeric code designating Government Category.

Transaction Date

Date of the transaction.

Transaction ID

A unique identifier of a transaction used for internal tracking purposes.

Transaction Source

Lawson System Application that generated the transaction;
AP (Accounts Payable)
AR (Accounts Receivable)
CB (Cash Book)
GL (General Ledger)
RJ (Recurring Journal Entry)

Vendor Name

Any business, individual, corporation, or other entity that receives payment from state government as the result of providing goods or services, or receiving benefits, grants or other assistance.

Vendor Name will only display in Transaction Source AP (Accounts Payable). If the vendor name is deemed to be confidential or sensitive by the Agency, the Vendor Name will display as REDACTED.

All other Lawson System Application transaction sources will display NOT APPLICABLE in the Vendor Name field.