Christiansburg, VA Proposes FY 11-12 Budget on the Foundation of Priority Based Budgeting

Go Directly to the Town's Website at:
http://www.christiansburg.org/index.aspx?nid=455

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting also provided town staff with access to their proprietary spreadsheets and filtering systems as they work to allocate resources based on priorities. These systems will allow for closer examination of programs and services and the impact they have on town spending. They are designed to promote questioning by staff of what else can be done, who the town can possibly partner with to continue to provide the same level of service expected by the public, etc. The intent of the process is to provide a new way of looking at information and generating the conversations that need to be had in order to make tough funding decisions.

The town hopes to continue to utilize the priority based budgeting approach in the future, whether facing tough economic times or not. In addition to providing a way to completely review existing programs and services in upcoming years, it will also allow suggestions for new programs or services to be evaluated using established criteria as a means of determining whether implementing the prospective program should be a high priority for the town and our citizens.

MONTEREY PRESS RELEASE: Initial Budget Reduction Plan Presented to Public - Approach Upholds Principles of Priority Based Budgeting

MONTEREY PRESS RELEASE: Initial Budget Reduction Plan Presented to Public - Approach Upholds Principles of Priority Based Budgeting


Download Staff Presentation from City of Monterey Website at: http://www.monterey.org/prioritybasedbudget/docs/PrelimBudgetReductionStrategyFY12.pdf

“We have cut millions of dollars out of the City budget over the last two years, and there really isn’t anything left to cut that won’t be painful for our residents and our employees,” said City Manager Fred Meurer. “That is why we have worked diligently this year to get the all of our stakeholders involved in the priority-based budgeting process.”

Priority-based budgeting will move the City away from line-item budgeting and toward program budgeting. Program budgeting eventually will help the City determine the true cost of the programs it delivers; see if the fees charged, or perhaps should charge, cover the costs of a program; and build a budget for the future based on what the City can afford.

City of Grand Island Launches Into Another Year of Priority Based Budgeting with Deeper Review of Results

Grand Island's priorities remain the same > The Independent > News > Local
By Tracy Overstreet, Wednesday, April 20, 2011 10:12 AM CDT

A safe community remained the overall No. 1 city priority in a resurvey of the Grand Island City Council, but four new ideas were added to the 21 priorities the council first set two years ago. Those new priorities were immigration control, regional travel/airport development, rightsizing government/outsourcing, and having representation for the city in higher government. The new ideas were write-ins to the survey the council took over the weekend as part of the "$500 exercise" for the city's program prioritization process.

Program prioritization is a budgeting mechanism that begins with asking how much money the city has available, as opposed to how much money it needs, said consultant Jon Johnson.

He and Chris Fabian of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting in Denver began working with the council in 2009 to determine what the city's core functions were and how best to allocate the city's limited resources to those functions.

Christiansburg officials pleased with budget survey response

Christiansburg officials pleased with budget survey response Community Current - roanoke.com: "Christiansburg officials pleased with budget survey response
The Town of Christiansburg received a successful return rate on its budget survey, and other localities took note, spokeswoman Becky Wilburn said Tuesday.

In a presentation to council, Wilburn said she received 1,152 survey responses, which represents 6.6 percent of the town’s 2010 adult population.
Christiansburg paid The Center for Priority Based Budgeting $22,000 to help create a survey intended to aid council in putting together the budget.

Last month, residents received a survey that acted as a simulated exercise, in which they were “given” $100. The residents were asked how they would spread the money among various town needs, deciding which are most important.

The number of responses Christianbsburg received was rated second among surveys created by the company, Wilburn said. The locality with the most received responses from 1,300 people but had a population five times that of Christiansburg, she said.

Because of the town’s success with its survey, Wilburn said she’s been contacted by other localities interested in how they got such feedback. She said she will host a national webinar on the issue. Town Council is slated to hold a budget work session Tuesday."

Boulder Promotes Physical and Fiscal Fitness - Resource Allocation Clearly Promotes Community Value of a Healthy City

Boulder Promotes Physical and Fiscal Fitness
“People here take health and fitness very seriously,” says Steve Mertz. And so does City government. 

Another way in which Boulder encourages a healthy lifestyle is through its budgeting process, Priority Based Budgeting, explains Jennifer Bray.  One of the results against which all 500-plus programs in the City are measured is “A Healthy City and Community.” In other words, the City makes a specific effort to lend support to programs that promote health and fitness within the community.

Fiscal Distress: Tools to Diagnose the Cause and Apply the... | icma.org

Fiscal Distress: Tools to Diagnose the Cause and Apply the... icma.org
For those of you who are participating in the March 10th webconference, Getting Ready for the Budgeting Process: How to Use Priority-Based Budgeting, you will benefit from this topic in a different way. The March 10th event focuses on fiscal wellness (prioritization budgeting). This webconference focuses on fiscal health. Two sides of the same coin, each topic has its own unique tools and techniques.

Get real-life examples of how local governments are benefiting from using this diagnostic approach to fiscal health. Chris and Jon will demonstrate the “Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool,” point by point.