Delray commissioners hire firm to close projected budget gap

Delray commissioners hire firm to close projected budget gap
By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Staring down the barrel of a project revenue shortfall approaching $3 million, Delray Beach City Commissioners agreed to some outside help in putting together the budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1.

Commissioners agreed to hire the Denver-based Center for Priority Based Budgeting to help put together a budget geared towards “the community’s highest priority programs,” while shifting money away from other less important programs.

Monterey Passes Budget - PBB helps the City determine what city services are mandated, which have costs that can be covered by user fees, and whether the services could be supplied by the marketplace

Monterey OKs $94M priority-based budget - MontereyHerald.com :
Monterey's first priority-based budgeting process ended last week with the adoption of a $94 million budget for fiscal 2011-12. Assistant City Manager Fred Cohn said priority-based budgeting has become a new trend among cities, turning away from the traditional line-item budget to one that takes in several factors, including what the general public wants its city to do.

The $94,853,832 budget, which includes a general fund operating budget of $56,737,070, came after four public meetings — over and above City Council meetings — that invited residents to list their own priorities for spending the city's income, Cohn said.

'This was an opportunity to link various services we perform with the council's value drivers which it deemed was important for the community, and get a sense of what the community values were,' Cohn said.

These factors, were considered along with determining what city services are mandated, which have costs that can be covered by user fees, and whether the services could be supplied by the marketplace."

New Hampshire Municipal Manager's Association Welcomes the Center for Discussion of Fiscal Health and Wellness

http://www.nhlgc.org/affiliate/nhmma/pdfdocuments/NHMMA_ConferenceMailer_2011.pdf

Local government managers are always looking for better ways to do things in their communities. Priority based budgeting is a model that has been successfully implemented in several municipalities across the country. John Johnson and Chris Fabian of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting will present a half day workshop on achieving fiscal health and wellness, and reviewing the priority based budgeting model. Participants will be given information along with hands on tools and techniques to take back to their communities. The review will include the five principles of fiscal health and how preventative diagnosis can uncover potentially unhealthy practices that could easily be corrected.

Boulder revives community survey - Priority Based Budgeting Brings Relevance to Traditional Survey Efforts

Boulder revives community survey - Boulder Daily Camera
Traditional citizen survey efforts may regain relevance when used in the context of Priority Based Budgeting.

"What would you change about Boulder? That's essentially what thousands of Boulder residents will be asked to answer later this year as part of a comprehensive community survey.

Sarah Huntley, a city spokeswoman, said the city manager decided to resurrect the survey to help inform the new "priority-based budgeting" model, in which the city prioritizes funding based on the community's goals and desires."