balance the baskets
v. phr.— «Alderman at-large Paul Denaro said the accepted practice over the years has been not to fund line items properly, but to make estimates based on the previous year’s budget and then adjust the accounts as needed during the course of a given fiscal year. This practice is sometimes known as “balancing the baskets” and results in a flurry of financial transfers, typically toward the close of the fiscal year in June.» —“Increase in OT partly due to installation of new computer system” by Gordon Vincent Daily Times Chronicle (Woburn, Massachusetts) Jan. 26, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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