NOT EVERY government officials conference is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Sometimes they put down their umbrella drinks long enough to address significant matters. So it was earlier this week in San Jose, where the International City/County Management Association held its 96th annual conference, with every eyeball in the crowd searching for ways to balance a shrinking budget.
The presentation focused on priority-based budgeting, which translates roughly to this: Which programs are most important to residents and which can be whacked? That may sound numbingly simple, but it represents a departure from traditional thinking. "Across-the-board budget cuts preserve mediocrity in all programs," said Jon Johnson, senior manager for the Center for Priority Based Budgeting. "We want to find the top programs, those that help us achieve the results we seek." He said San Jose once had nearly 600 city-funded programs, obviously not all of them essential. The challenge was identifying which were most valued. The solution -- imagine this! -- was to ask the people.
Said Johnson: "It's important to ask not whether police are more important than libraries but what programs are of the highest interest to citizens." (That police-library thing sounds vaguely familiar.)
Cities need to look within for help, too. Volunteers are an important resource. "Part of the new paradigm is not treating citizens as our customers but as our partners," said budgeting expert Chris Fabian
By Tom Barnidge
Contra Costa Times columnist
Posted: 10/19/2010 07:21:11 PM PDT
NOT EVERY government officials conference is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Sometimes they put down their umbrella drinks long enough to address significant matters.
So it was earlier this week in San Jose, where the International City/County Management Association held its 96th annual conference, with every eyeball in the crowd searching for ways to balance a shrinking budget. The theme of meeting -- "How Local Governments Can Thrive in Uncertain Times" -- was a bit optimistic. Replace "thrive" with "survive" and it better captures the reality facing most communities.
Livermore City Manager Linda Barton, a keynote speaker, set the tone at a Monday session: "Unemployment in our area is over 10½ percent. Assessed valuations have declined by hundreds of millions of dollars. Livermore's structural deficit going into 2010-11 is estimated at $5.5 million."
Other than that, how's everything?
The presentation focused on priority-based budgeting, which translates roughly to this: Which programs are most important to residents and which can be whacked? That may sound numbingly simple, but it represents a departure from traditional thinking. During lean times in the past -- this isn't the first recession -- leaders typically have responded with across-the-board cuts, determining the percentage of savings needed and trimming equally from each department.
"Across-the-board budget cuts preserve mediocrity in all programs," said Jon Johnson, senior manager for the Center for Priority Based Budgeting. "We want to find the top programs, those that help us achieve the results we seek."
He said San Jose once had nearly 600 city-funded programs, obviously not all of them essential. The challenge was identifying which were most valued. The solution -- imagine this! -- was to ask the people.
Said Johnson: "It's important to ask not whether police are more important than libraries but what programs are of the highest interest to citizens." (That police-library thing sounds vaguely familiar.)
Some East Bay communities already engage their residents.
Livermore does a biannual survey of priorities, which are included among the city council's goals. The city conducts periodic workshops to elicit community input and distributes a "budget in brief," condensing reams of information in a two-page document that provides a snapshot of the city's expenditures.
Walnut Creek enacted a shaping-our-future program nearly 18 months ago, with a series of public forums designed to identify residents' priorities. Councilman Gary Skrel, then serving as mayor, explained, "We would separate people into focus groups and have them talk about was important to them, be it open space, downtown, public safety, schools or whatever."
Residents also were invited to construct a virtual budget, using a computer program to show how they would allocate an imaginary $500 among 50 different programs. That was factored into council budget decisions, Skrel said.
"Each community may be different," Johnson said. "What's important in one community may not be in another."
Barton said cities need to look within for help, too. Livermore employees were asked to brainstorm ways to streamline services, better utilize technology and increase volunteerism. Volunteers are an important resource. ("Part of the new paradigm is not treating citizens as our customers but as our partners," said budgeting expert Chris Fabian.)
No budget conversation would be complete without mention of pension reform, which Barton acknowledged is a "huge issue" in California that will be addressed in negotiations.
She might need an umbrella drink when that process gets under way.
Contact Tom Barnidge at tbarnidge@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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