City of Cincinnati Underway with Most Extensive Citizen Engagement Process Ever Associated with Priority Based Budgeting

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/pages/-45389-/

Our thanks to The Novak Consulting Group for partnering with us on this incredible project for the City of Cincinnati!

Priority-Driven Budgeting
Your City. Your Priorities. Your Voice.

What Is Priority-Driven Budgeting?

Priority-driven budgeting puts citizens at the center of the budget decision-making process.

Through priority-driven budgeting, you tell government about what kind of community you want. Then, government programs are scored against your priorities to better match spending with your wants and needs.

Priority-driven budgeting helps the City of Cincinnati government to answer these questions:

• What are we in "business" to do?
• What exactly do we do?
• How do we figure out what is "core" or what is of the highest importance?
• How do we know we are successful?
• How do we ask better questions that lead to better decisions about what we do and why we do it?

How Can I Take Part?

There are six open sessions to gather public input:

Tuesday, April 10 at 11 a.m. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Main Branch Downtown
800 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m.Pleasant Ridge Recreation Center
5915 Ridge Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45213

Wednesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Hartwell Recreation Center
8275 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45216

Monday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Dunham Recreation Center
4356 Dunham Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45238

Tuesday, April 17 at 6 p.m.The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Avondale Branch
3566 Reading Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45229

Tuesday, April 17 at 6:30 p.m.College Hill Recreation Center
5545 Belmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45224

Online Collaboration: Visit the Priority-Driven Budgeting wiki and Facebook page to share ideas and discuss priorities with other residents and businesses.

What's Next?

After the public input, which also includes focus group sessions and a survey component, the consultants will develop a strategy map for each outcome that serves as a visual representation of how to achieve the desired result. Then the City will review existing programs to determine if they are sized in a way that produce a clear result, and rank them against the desired outcomes identified by citizens.