This week being Priority Based Budgeting week, we wanted to start it off by assembling the published works on Fiscal Health and Priority Based Budgeting, all in one place. Each published article and white paper is yours by clicking on the links below. Our objective is to add to this library, which we will do this week even, posting articles and stories from the front-lines of communities who have implemented this work (stay tuned this week for two posts about the incredible achievements in Walnut Creek, California and Boulder, Colorado).
We also wanted to devote Priority Based Budgeting week to generating the kinds of questions from you all that we would typically generate during our webinars or conference sessions, and dedicate time to answering you. Look for your opportunity to contribute to an ongoing Q&A session on Priority Based Budgeting this week, and take advantage of the chance to pose your questions. We're so much looking forward to hearing what you have to say!
CPBB Publications on Priority Based Budgeting
September 2012, Seeing Things Differently: Through the Lens of Priority-Based Budgeting, Communities Gain Powerful Insights into Their Programs, authored by Jon Johnson and Chris Fabian, published by International City / County Manager's Association's (ICMA) professional journal, Public Management "PM" Magazine
Description: Priority Based Budgeting has been declared a Leading Practice for Government Management by ICMA. Three years after it's invention, the process has been implemented in over 30 communities across the Country, from cities as large as Sacramento CA, and Cincinnati OH to communities as politically complex and diverse as Boulder CO and Monterey CA, to organizations as small as Post Falls ID, Chrisitansburg VA and Blue Ash OH. The "unique lens" of Priority Based Budgeting is leading organizations to surprising breakthroughs and insights, focusing on questions such as: What is the local government uniquely qualified to provide, for the maximum benefit to citizens for the tax dollars they pay? What is the community truly mandated to provide? What does it cost to fulfill those mandates? What are the appropriate programs to consider establishing or increasing user-fees? What are the appropriate programs to consider partnerships with other community service providers? What services might the local government reach consensus about “getting out of the business” of providing? Where are there apparent overlaps and redundancies in a community where several entities are providing similar services? Where is the local government potentially competing against businesses in its own community?
March 2011, White Paper: Anatomy of a Priority Driven Budget Process, authored by Chris Fabian, Jon Johnson and GFOA's Shayne Kavanagh, published by the Government Finance Officer's Association (GFOA) as a White Paper
Description: This White Paper, published by GFOA, is the first paper documenting some of the key ingredients of a Priority Based Budget initiative. While most governments today agree on the need to prioritize services and resource allocation, the key issue remains: how do you do that? This is a paper about the Center for Priority Based Budgeting's methodologies and process which are pioneering in the field of priority based budgeting, as well as some of CPBB's most successful stories from the work, namely: San Jose, Lakeland, Walnut Creek, Blue Ash, Grand Island, Chesapeake, Boulder and Fairfield. To quote Chesapeake's City manager in 2010, William Harrell: "It sounds intuitive but what we found was there was no real methodology to connect all of the things that government does" to what policymakers want to see for their cities. (Virginia Pilot, regional newspaper, Chesapeake, Virginia)
May 2010, Anatomy of a Priority Based Budget, authored by Jon Johnson, Chris Fabian and GFOA's Shayne Kavanagh, published by the Government Finance Officer's Association's (GFOA) professional journal, Government Finance Review (GFR)
Description: Priority Driven Budgeting is about how a government should invest resources in order to meet its stated objectives. Prioritization helps us to better articulate why the programs we offer exist, what value they offer to citizens, how they benefit the community, what price we pay for them, and what objectives and citizen demands they are achieving. Priority Driven Budgeting is about directing resources to those programs that create the greatest value for the public." CPBB has contributed to GFOA's research since 2008 when Johnson and Fabian's Priority-based Budgeting session drew over 800 at GFOA's Annual Conference in Florida. On the front-lines of the "New Normal" throughout these last few years, CPBB's experiences formed the basis for GFOA's objective research about how local governments are not only surviving, but creating great transformations in their organizations and their communities. These are some of the stories and lessons learned from 2008-2010 - the success stories of Walnut Creek and San Jose, California, and the City of Lakeland, Florida.
June 2008, Prioritization: The New Reality of Budgeting, authored by Chris Fabian, Scott Collins and Jon Johnson, published by International City / County Manager's Association's (ICMA) professional journal, Public Management "PM" Magazine
Description: Unveiling the invention of Priority Based Budgeting, the authors note: "the biggest challenge we face in government is not the ever-changing fiscal conditions. Instead, the issue most often is a crisis of strategy. Recognizing this, we believe that implementing prioritization is an effective way to combat crises. All organizations, especially those that are stewards of public resources, establish values and objectives to meet the expectations of those for whom they exist to serve. Resources contributed by the community or other constituencies are dedicated to achieve those established objectives, regardless of the current fiscal condition. As we evaluate the inventories of all programs and services offered, we would find it implausible to believe that each achieves those objectives to an equal extent. Prioritization offers an objective process that allows those responsible for resource allocation decisions to ensure that those programs of higher value to citizens, those programs that achieve the organization’s objectives most visibly and effectively, can be sustained through adequate funding levels regardless of the fiscal crisis du jour. Whether there are more resources to distribute or fewer to allocate, prioritization guides that allocation toward those programs most highly valued by the organization and, most important, by the citizens who depend on those programs for their well-being, their comfort, and their expected quality of life."
CPBB Publications on Fiscal Health
October 2009, It’s All in the Questions – The Manager's Role in Achieving Fiscal Health (Part 2), authored by Jon Johnson and Chris Fabian, published by International City / County Manager's Association's (ICMA) professional journal, Public Management "PM" Magazine
Description: When elected officials start asking if it's time to cut services, cut staff, or raise taxes, are you confident you have the facts and analyses to offer a thoughtful recommendation? Be prepared with an approach that uses a series of basic but critical diagnostic questions that center around five measures of fiscal health. In October 2009, PM Magazine published Part 2 in the "It's All in the Questions" series which highlighted the public manager's role in assessing the organization's Fiscal Health. With special emphasis on the effectiveness of Internal Service Funds and the success of scenario planning models such as the Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool, this article helps put in place the final foundation of financial stability needed so that an organization can look to Priority Based Budgeting with a sound footing.
September 2009, It’s All in the Questions – The Manager's Role in Achieving Fiscal Health (Part 1), authored by Jon Johnson and Chris Fabian, published by International City / County Manager's Association's (ICMA) professional journal, Public Management "PM" Magazine
Description: "It's All in the Questions - the Manager's Role in Achieving Fiscal Health" is the latest Cover Story for Pubic Management Magazine, and includes Part 1 of a 2 part series, with Part 1 focusing on the critical identification and differentiation between reliable, predicatable, ongoing revenues and those of a one-time nature; establishing and demonstrating reserves; and understanding and addressing variances.
For any further questions, interest or ideas on Priority Based Budgeting, contact Cheryl Hilvert at chilvert@icma.org
http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/blogs/blogpost/794/Center_for_Management_Strategies_Brings_You_Priority_Based_Budgeting_Library_of_Resources
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