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We are in that time of year where finance directors at local governments across America are asking their departments for budget information. Departments are scrambling to estimate costs, seek out quotes and generally assemble their pitches to support programming and staff for their departments.
Meanwhile, elected leaders are anxious to ensure the budget matches the priorities they either promised during the campaign or were identified through community engagement. More cops. More pickleball courts. More dog parks. More speed bumps. Faster permits. A Trader Joe’s on every other block.
As I often say to my daughter: money is just a tool to communicate values and priorities, it is not an end. You can’t eat it, wear it or sleep under it. What is budgeted by the agency board/council is a reflection of its priorities (and some unfunded mandates that were foisted on it, too). Given these points, getting the budget creation process right is almost as important as getting the right budget.
Budgets remind us there is a limit to what can be done. Not every problem can be solved by every agency at every moment. So the elected leaders choose. And because the budget will say no to someone or something, it can be helpful to the community if they can join along in the decision making process. Here are some quick options to ponder:
- Community involvement in the budget means explaining the budget and basic limits of the circumstance the agency is facing. Some agencies have published Financial Primers to educate the community about basic revenues and expenses as budget season kicks off.
- An agency could go further and layer in a community workshop to frame up budget choices and invite community feedback on some of the discretionary items. It is important to frame up choices with a brief presentation to the community before opening it up to feedback so everyone can operate on shared facts.
- Some organizations like to wrap up a goal setting or strategic planning process in February or March so they can integrate the priorities into the budget. It is best to start in October of the prior year, if possible.
- Once the budget is adopted, outlining the high level details to the community along with a story explaining the general budget trends is a great start. Budget adoption is a big deal. Tell the community about it.
- Finally, after you have finalized the budget, your finance department will create a hefty budget book, but you may also consider a Budget-in-Brief document that summarizes the budget in eight or twelve pages to make it approachable for your residents. It’s kind of like a comic book version of War and Peace.
There are a lot of options and a tremendous amount of work to do around the budget process, but since it sits at the center of funding the operations and aspirations of the agency, it warrants the attention.
May Your Budgets Be Balanced,
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