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What is FTE?
The Department of Finance produces work force reports on a quarterly and fiscal year end basis. Minnesota Statutes 16A.122, subd. 3, requires that the measure of work force used in these reports is the Full-time Equivalent (FTE) position. FTE is calculated by totaling the number of hours paid and dividing by the number of available regular hours a full time employee could have worked for the reporting period. For example, a full time employee who started mid year would be counted as .50 FTE in a fiscal year end report. FTE includes full time, part time, seasonal, temporary, and overtime hours worked. Since one FTE can include more than one employee and overtime, it is not a head count of employees.
What are funds and what is the General Fund?
State spending is divided into a series of separate funds, which are separate accounting divisions, to keep track of certain revenues and expenditures that are specified in law. The largest of these is the state general fund. The general fund receives the major state taxes on individual income, sales, corporate income, alcohol and tobacco, and the Legislature appropriates these funds for public purposes. It represents the primary source of funding for major state programs, such as education. Other funds are often created to set aside certain revenues for special purposes. For example, taxes on motor vehicle licenses and gasoline are dedicated to special highway funds for road maintenance and construction. Hunting and fishing license fees fund fish and wildlife conservation programs.
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