Blue Ash Leverages Citizen Survey and Public Engagement in Prioritization as City Prepares for Long-term

Update on Blue Ash's budget prioritization process cincinnati.com CommunityPress.com

Recent information from Moody's (the nation's largest bond rating agency) confirms that prioritization processes such as what Blue Ash is going through demonstrate a strategic approach to managing the current fiscal environment.

So where do we go from here? The local government advisors developed a unique tool that Blue Ash can utilize for years to come as a part of the city's annual budgetary planning process. This tool will be valuable in assisting the council and administration in determining what services and programs contribute directly to the city's overall objectives, including the evaluation of any future new programs or services being considered.

Walnut Creek Recognized for Authentic Citizen Engagement in Prioritization Process by the Institute for Local Government

http://www.ca-ilg.org/node/2601

Walnut Creek uses Community Dialogues to Inform Difficult Budget Decisions

Even cities with a relatively well-off population are facing difficult choices due to falling revenues. In the eastern San Francisco bay area city of Walnut Creek, as in many other cities around the state, local officials faced the unpleasant task of cutting programs in 2009 due to budget shortfalls, and the more unpleasant task of explaining this to the public. Building on an ongoing tradition of collaboration with residents and community building programs, city staff and officials worked with consultants and adopted a multi-stage public engagement Fiscal Health and Wellness prioritization process to educate and gather informed input from hundreds of residents.

City of Fairfield Launches Website Inviting Community to Follow Progress in Priority Based Budget Initiative

http://www.ci.fairfield.ca.us/gov/depts/finance/priority_based_budgeting.asp

PBB is attractive to the City because it relies on community input and the work of employees to be successful.

In contrast to past years, decisions on potential funding reductions are expected to occur at the program level rather than at the level of individual budget line items that run across multiple programs. The results of this process are anticipated to enable decision makers to reallocate funding between programs based upon changing needs and priorities.

Seaside, California "Stays True to Community's Values" by Prioritizing Investment of Shrinking Resources

City of Seaside - Budget Message
In the midst of serious fiscal challenges, it will be particularly important to stay true to the values that will carry us through these difficult times.
The goal of fiscal health was established in consideration of the need to adjust the budgeting process to more effectively align resources with the City’s priorities.

Fiscal health and wellness is an allocation of resources based on priorities.

A process based on a proven fiscal health and wellness model was used to identify all of the City’s programs. The programs were then scored based on the desired results identified by the City Council consistent with the Vision Statement for the City, which is an integral part of the City’s Strategic Plan. Programs were categorized as operational or governance to reflect that there is a structure needed to provide services to the community.