Appendix
Last modified: June 1, 2026
Agency 2027-29 biennial budget requests are due to OFM by Monday, September 14, 2026.
Agency Budget System (ABS)
A new feature is available in ABS this year. For budget requests that result in the need for a new fund, from the Fiscal Details – Funding screen, agencies should select “New”, and use fund “TBD – Placeholder Fund”.
Decision Package Template
The decision package template has been refreshed to ensure it better aligns with ABS. A blank template version is available to help support agency’s budget development efforts. The template is available for download within ABS or on OFM’s forms webpage.
Equity
See Appendix D: Community Engagement Guidelines that has been designed to assist agencies in considering and conducting community engagement during budget development. It contains a checklist of tips when actually engaging with community members and groups and writing prompts to assist with decision package content development.
Facility Costs
Instructions for the biennial Six-Year Facilities Plan have been incorporated into Chapter 9: Facility Costs. All space types are now in scope for six-year planning, and deliverables are due with agency budget submittals in September via the Agency Budget System (ABS). This change improves process efficiency and supports more integrated planning and budgeting by encouraging agencies to consider facility needs across their full portfolio in the context of evolving workplace practices and current fiscal constraints. Refer to Chapter 9 for more details.
Governor’s Budget Priorities
Governor Ferguson has identified budget priorities for the 2027-29 biennium which will be used in conjunction with Results Through Performance Management (RPM) and Activity budgeting processes. Refer to Chapter 17 for more details.
The HEAL Act
The mandatory questions for Healthy Environment for All Act (HEAL Act) covered agencies have been updated to better align with the governing structure and requirements of the HEAL Act. Refer to Chapter 13 for more details.
Transportation
Chapter 16 contains updated instructions for the Washington State Patrol and the Department of Transportation to adhere to OFM’s Capital Budget instructions when submitting requests for any new building facility. For the Department of Transportation, Chapter 16 includes updated instructions to submit capital facility projects under $2 million as a prioritized minor works project list and the expenditure process for those projects following enactment of the transportation budget.
Submittal requirements for all agencies
Agency Information
| ☐ | Agency Head transmittal letter |
| ☐ | Agency organization chart |
| ☐ | Agency activity inventory report |
| ☐ | Performance measure incremental estimates report |
| ☐ | Indirect cost allocation to activities description |
| ☐ | Agency strategic plan |
| ☐ | Agency descriptive text review and update if needed |
Recommendation Summary
| ☐ | Recommendation summary at agency level |
| ☐ | Recommendation summary at program level |
Decision Packages
| ☐ | Decision package summaries |
| ☐ | Individual decision packages |
Agency Supporting Details
| ☐ | Summarized revenues |
| ☐ | Proposed fee changes |
| ☐ | Working capital reserve |
| ☐ | Revenue transfer reconciliation statement |
| ☐ | Federal fund estimates/state match |
| ☐ | Additional federal receipts reporting requirements |
| ☐ | Nonbudgeted local fund summary (submittal form) |
| ☐ | Puget Sound Action Agenda: list of DPs and capital project requests |
| ☐ | JLARC audit responses |
| ☐ | |
| ☐ | Facility costs (submittal form) |
Other Supporting Documents
| ☐ | Central services fund split information |
| ☐ | Extraordinary risk management DP and enterprise risk management updates |
Additional Submittal Requirements for Transportation Agencies
| ☐ | Summary of goal-oriented initiatives and investments, expected outcomes |
| ☐ | Financial plan (for fund administrators) |
| ☐ | Backlog reduction plan |
Additional Submittal Requirements for the Washington State Patrol
| ☐ | Updates to recruitment and retention issues, projected retirements |
| ☐ | Academy class schedule |
| ☐ | Vehicle/aviation fleet life-cycle analysis and replacement plan |
| ☐ | Report detailing the implementation of a transition to cloud computing and storage |
Additional Submittal Requirements for County Road Administration Board
| ☐ | Supporting statistical information: rural roads, rural bridges, all-weather road programs |
| ☐ | Grant awards table – RAP, CAPP, CFCIP |
Additional Submittal Requirements for Transportation Improvement Board
| ☐ | Supporting statistical information: sidewalks, urban arterials, small city arterial programs |
| ☐ | Grant awards table: SCAP, SCSP, SCPP, UAP, SP, APP |
Additional Submittal Requirement for Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board
| ☐ | Grant awards table, Freight Mobility Program |
Additional Submittal Requirements for Department of Transportation
| ☐ | Reappropriations and new awards tables for grant programs |
| ☐ | Ferry-specific information (operating), vehicle passenger ridership forecast data, level-of-service information |
| ☐ | Capital program 10-year investment plan narratives, contingency cost/risk reserve spreadsheet |
| ☐ | Summary of “section 601” changes (OFM-approved cost changes) |
| ☐ | Nickel, TPA, and Connecting Washington status reports |
| ☐ | Capital facilities TEIS project list |
| ☐ | Funding plan summaries for mega-projects |
| ☐ | Ferry capital, vessel rebuild and replacement plan, project lists |
Additional Submittal Requirements for higher education agencies
Higher education budget forms 2027-29
| ☐ | Attachment A-1 locally authorized salary increases |
| ☐ | Attachment A-2a non-faculty exempt CBA template |
| ☐ | Attachment A-2b classified CBA summary |
| ☐ | Attachment A-3 faculty collective bargaining summary |
| ☐ | Attachment B-1 waivers, state supported |
| ☐ | Attachment B-2 waivers, non-state supported |
| ☐ | Attachment B-3 financial aid from non-state sources |
| ☐ | Attachment B-4 student loan debt |
| ☐ | Maintenance and operations for new buildings coming online in 2027-29 (C form) |
|
Other items |
|
| ☐ | Local fund summaries (report) |
| ☐ | Fund balance management (report) |
| ☐ | Tuition and enrollment change model data (due to LEAP post-budget submittal) |
Updates to agency descriptive text are due with your budget submittal no later than September 14, 2026.
While not a component of your budget submittal, agency descriptive text is a required element of the Governor’s proposed budget publication. Please review your existing descriptive text (rolled over from the 2025-27 budget) and update in ABS to reflect any changes relevant to the ensuing 2027-29 biennium. If you make no changes, it will appear as is. Most agencies will need little or no change to their descriptive text. Please verify that the RCW citations contained in this information is correct. Additional field capacity was added to accommodate agencies who needed additional room for RCW references. Also add or delete references to reflect law changes since the last biennial budget build.
- To view your 2025-27 descriptive text, navigate to the 2025-27 Agency detail budgets, select your agency and View Description.
- In ABS, select the Admin icon on the lower left of the Dashboard. This function is limited to ABS Admin Users.
- From the Administration screen, select Manage Agency Descriptive Text
- ABS Help is available by selecting the Help icon and using keyword search “agency descriptive text”
The Office of Equity (EQUITY) and Office of Financial Management created these guidelines to help agencies strengthen their decision package requests. Agencies are encouraged to engage with impacted communities in order to provide more detail, transparency, engagement, and accountability in their requests.
Checklist
- Review EQUITY’s Community Engagement Toolkit and apply best practices, as appropriate.
- Language accessible engagement is recommended to include engagement/materials available in languages other than English.
- Meet communities where they are; outreach into the community utilizing their familiar spaces and trusted partners.
- Take measures to ensure meetings are safe and inclusive to vulnerable populations. Do not take attendance or expect sign-in sheets. Allow for anonymous participation.
- Consider accessibility barriers for hybrid/virtual meetings.
- Make space for storytelling. Feedback shouldn’t be restricted to surveys or numbers.
- Review EQUITY’s Community Compensation Guidelines.
- Conduct engagement prior to and while developing decision packages; contents should be reflective of feedback from the community. Set expectations, such as identifying what parts are open to community influence.
- Identify if there are underrepresented populations and communities who have higher impacts or involvement in program.
- Identify data collection methods and provide evidence of existing disproportionate impacts that can specifically be addressed through the implementation of legislative action. Inform communities how their information will be used/retained so they can make informed decisions.
- Provide community engagement data to demonstrate how input was gathered (number of surveys, public meetings, participants, geography, etc.).
- Identify community input on proposal and how it was considered in final version.
- Use real life examples and statements (ex. report recommendations or feedback from community summit that validates concerns with gaps in resources by certain communities).
- Close the loop. When engagement and feedback is requested from community there should be a report back to the communities engaged on how their feedback was used.
Considerations
The prompts below are designed to help agencies prepare decision package content and support internal planning and coordination of community engagement activities.
- Who are the primary communities or populations affected by this proposal?
- Demographic
- Geographic
- Historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities
- Disproportionately impacted
- What are the short-term and long-term effects of this proposal on those communities? How did you identify these effects?
- Does the proposal address existing community needs, gaps in services, or historical disadvantages?
- For example: have there been financial, environmental, legal, educational, and/or resource impacts that have disproportionately affected certain groups?
- How will the success or harm of this proposal be measured from a community lens? What is your plan to share back with the community how their feedback was utilized?
- For example: community town halls, listening sessions, routine surveys, program outreach, etc.
- How does this proposal contribute to reducing disparities in access, outcomes, or opportunities?
- How has disaggregated data (by race, income, geography, etc.) been used to inform this proposal?
- How is funding or support being directed to communities that are historically marginalized or disadvantaged?
- What community groups or partners were consulted during the development of this proposal and what methods were used to gather community input (ex. Town halls, surveys, focus groups, interviews)?
- How was outreach conducted to ensure participation from marginalized or disadvantaged groups?
- What process did you use to ensure people who use ASL or a spoken language other than English could participate in community feedback?
- What themes or concerns were raised by the community in the engagement process and how did that input shape the final proposal? Give examples of changes made as a result.
- How will ongoing community engagement be maintained throughout implementation, if the proposal is adopted?
