CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: Case Studies & The User Group Experience

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs

 

150+ local government "Summit" attendee rock-stars can't be wrong!!!!

What an exciting CPBB 2013 "Summit of Leading Practices" Annual Conference! I know we are still riding high from the creative energy and innovative concepts discussed during the two day "Summit." We hope you're feeling the "local government high" and take this energy home and apply it in your organization! Thanks to all conference attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and friends!

Beyond the "high", we also left the "Summit" full of  innovative "Leading Practice" inspiration and we're hungry for more! To satisfy your infectious cravings, the CPBB has revisited each conference session on this blog. The intent is to recap the energetic session presentation(s) and reinforce the innovative "leading practice" concepts discussed at the "Summit!"





As the final post in this blog series, we will review the electric Day 2 afternoon conference sessions featuring pioneering local government experts from across the country who have successfully implemented Leading Practices. ENJOY!

 

Case Study #1 — Douglas County, Nevada: Online Citizen Engagement and Use of PBB in the Bond Rating Process
Stephen Mokohrosky, Kathy Lewis & Christine Vuletich, Douglas County, Nevada

Douglas County, Nevada has implemented a game-changing approach to citizen engagement. In 2012, the County embarked on the Priority Based Budgeting process with one of the primary objectives being to bring their community into an ownership position with respect to decision making. What unfolded in their groundbreaking use of an online tool to engage citizens sets the bar at a whole new level in participatory budgeting. Not only that, but the County's bond rating was affirmed as a result of their work.

Stephen Mokohrosky, Douglas County, NV Case Study

Citizen engagement in the budget process has been increasingly of interest in local government  budgeting. The logic follows that the more citizens can authentically contribute and influence the decisions being made by their government, the more ownership they might take in their community. Trust increases with transparency. Compassion comes with trust. The benefits are undeniable.

Still, organizations ask us, "but what about the risks inherent in citizen engagement? What is the right role for citizens?" We're asked, "to what degree is it appropriate, safe, meaningful, realistic and effective to have citizens participate in decision making?" In our work, we continue to strive for answers to these questions—they are the right questions. With the potential for such great outcomes, if we can answer those questions correctly, and involve citizens in more meaningful and influential ways, our communities can achieve everything they hope for!

Douglas County, Nevada has put citizens in the driver's seat of their Priority Based Budgeting process. Special thanks to Peak Democracy—our partners in the development of the "County Budget Challenge." 

Read full Douglas County, NV PBB & Citizen Engagement study here.

See the full Douglas County, NV slide presentation here.  

Presenters:
Stephen Mokohrosky
County Manager, Douglas County, Nevada

Kathy Lewis
Budget Manager, Douglas County, Nevada

Christine Vuletich
Assistant County Manager/ Chief Financial Officer, Douglas County, Nevada

Case Study #2 — City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado: Ideal Implementation of the Entire Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting Model
Patrick Goff, Heather Geyer & Nathan Mosley, City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado

 

Wheat Ridge's Patrick Goff, Nathan Mosley & Heather Geyer

The City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado is the first community to implement the entire approach to Achieving Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting—incorporating the Fiscal Health approach to communicating their financial forecast with the PBB process for resource allocation. Hear from City leaders how the Fiscal Health model changed the conversation with their elected officials, and how Priority Based Budgeting is being used to address the budget.

"PBB is truly more than just a way to address your 'budget woes.' The great thing about Priority Based Budgeting is it can help support the type of culture an organization desires by not simply viewing this process as a budget tool when it is really so much more. PBB is helping us further our culture in areas where we know we have room for improvement. PBB is more than being about the state of your budget, it is about the state of your organization..."

Wheat Ridge, CO City Manager Patrick Goff- Case Study

Presenters:
Patrick Goff
City Manager,
City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Heather Geyer
Administrative Services Director, City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Nathan Mosley
Management Analyst, City of Wheat Ridge, Colorado

See the full City of Wheat Ridge, CO slide presentation here. 

 

Case Study #3 — City of Cincinnati, Ohio, Guiding Elected Officials to Policy Questions Using the Resource Alignment Diagnostic Tool Lea Eriksen, City of Cincinnati, Ohio

  

The City of Cincinnati’s use of Priority Based Budgeting (through their "Priority Driven Budgeting"

initiative) establishes one of the greatest advancements in the use of the process to guide policy direction. The organization's response to Council’s policy direction provides one of the most comprehensive evaluations of city services across the entire organization.

Many organizations have approached us with a strong desire to bring their elected officials into a constructive and transparent discussion about the budget—Cincinnati has set the bar high in this respect. In the most direct way possible, the City used Priority Based Budgeting to guide policy-oriented discussions. One of the benefits of the process is that it creates specific roles for elected officials to participate and succeed. When elected officials can focus on key policy questions that impact resource allocation, when they’re provided input and transparency in the way their policy questions are answered, and when they can make decisions based on policy impacts, then they’ve played a successful role in budgeting.

Click to read more about Cincinnati's Priority-Driven Budget Initiative with the CPBB.

See the full City of Cincinnati, OH slide presentation here.  

Presenter: Lea Eriksen, Budget Director, City of Cincinnati, OH Case Study

“User Group Experience”/ Panel Discussion
Douglas County, NV / Wheat Ridge, CO / Cincinnati, OH / Fort Collins, CO / Walnut Creek, CA / Lakeland, FL / Tualatin, OR / Boone County, IL / Cary, NC

 

Practitioners Panel Discussion

City of Fort Collins, Colorado 

Fort Collins is one of the world’s leading experts in Results Based Budgeting—a pioneer in the implementation of “Budgeting for Outcomes” (BFO), having most recently integrated “Priority Based Budgeting” as a new layer to support decision making. Hear from the City as they describe what an unwavering commitment to “Results” has meant for their culture and their community.

See the full City of Fort Collins, CO slide presentation here.  

Darin A. Atteberry
City Manager, City of Fort Collins, Colorado


City of Walnut Creek, California

Walnut Creek is one of the earliest implementers of Priority Based Budgeting, having incorporated the process into their culture first in FY 2009–10. Last year, the City spoke about the "sustainability" of the process through changes in leadership – turnover at both the Council and manager levels. This year, come hear how the City has reinvented their budget book for citizens, creating a one-of-a-kind, magazine-style Budget Story to reach their citizens in an entirely new way. Presenting the budget as a story is a game-changing leap in creating transparency in local government budgeting. See the full City of Walnut Creek, CA slide presentation here.  

Lorie Tinfow

Assistant City Manager
City of Walnut Creek, California

 

City of Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland, Florida was the first community to implement Priority Based Budgeting after the process was described in the 2008 edition of ICMA’s PM Magazine. Over the past 5-years, the City has successfully evolved the process, incorporating Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to ensure that performance measures support the evaluation of services in the way they do business.

Doug Thomas
City Manager, City of Lakeland, FL


Kindle Bowden
Office of Management & Budget Manager, City of Lakeland, FL

See the full City of Lakeland, FL slide presentation here.  

City of Tualatin, Oregon

The City of Tualatin, Oregon is among the very first to adopt the Fiscal Health

Diagnostic Tool, putting it to use in 2009 and continuing to this day. Fiscal Health has become a means of communication—a translator of financial information for decision makers. In fact, since 2009, the City has been so diligent about using the Diagnostic Tool to maintain their Fiscal Health, we joke that they have prevented the need to ever use Priority Based Budgeting! Come see how the City uses Fiscal Health to communicate with elected officials, and as a data-visualization tool that depicts real-time impacts of various scenarios with a financial impact.

 See the full City of Tualatin, OR slide presentation here. 

Don Hudson
Finance Director,
City of Tualatin, Oregon

Boone County, Illinois


Boone County, Illinois provides a stunning illustration of how the principles of Fiscal Health can be used to strengthen a community's bond rating—a "Holy Grail" of sorts, in terms of using the principles in the most effective way possible!

In “Excelling in Times of Fiscal Distress,” an article Bob O'Neill wrote for Governing Magazine, about the time that Boone County was adopting Fiscal Health, he wrote “Most of us can articulate the early-warning signs that preceded the current economic downturn: Global forces that dramatically changed the local, state, and federal playing fields. Skyrocketing fuel costs. A failing housing market... property tax limitations. Yet, many of us failed to correctly interpret these early-warning signs in relation to their impact on our government organizations.”

Interpretation is the key! That is what Boone County has excelled in—both with their elected officials, and with the bond rating agencies.  

See the full Boone County, IL slide presentation here. 

Kenneth A. Terrinoni
County Administrator, Boone County, Illinois 

  

Day 2 of the "Summit" was an enormous success highlighting three innovative and successful local government case studies in addition to hearing from local government expert practitioners and their experiences implementing "Leading Practices".  Thanks to all who experienced this creative and energizing "Summit!" We look forward to seeing you all at next year's 3rd Annual CPBB Conference.

Finally, in an effort to ensure everybody has access to the conference session presentation slides, we've set up two additional folders within the ICMA Knowledge Network Center for Management Strategies Group and DropBox to help those who don't have access to Google Docs. Both of these sites will require people to sign-in (if they already have an account), or create an account and then sign-in (if they don't already have an account).

ICMA Center for Management Strategies Group 

DropBox


See the following links to revisit prior CPBB "Summit of Leading Practices" conference blog recaps:

Explosive "Summit of Leading Practices" Day 1 Recap 

 

The Innovation Tsunami of the CPBB 2013 "Summit of Leading Practices" Conference Wrap-Up

Feeding the CPBB "Summit" Inspired "Local Government High"

CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: ICMA & AFI Keynote Address Recap

CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: PBB from an Elected Officials Perspective, Civic Engagement and Citizen Surveys Recap

CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: Long Term Financial Planning, PBB as Civic Innovation and High Performance Organizations

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates and to feed the "local government high" inspired by the "Summit." Sign-up for our social media pages so you stay connected with TEAM CPBB!

    

If you're thinking of jumping into the world of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting we would certainly like to be part of your efforts! Contact us to schedule a free webinar and identify the best CPBB service option(s) to meet your organization's particular needs.

                                                 

"DATA VISUALIZATION" for Local Government

CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: Long Term Financial Planning, PBB as Civic Innovation and High Performance Organizations

CPBB DATA VISUALIZATION Tool

What an exciting CPBB 2013 "Summit of Leading Practices" Annual Conference! I know we are still riding high from the creative energy and innovative concepts discussed during the two day "Summit." We hope you're feeling the "local government high" and take this energy home and apply it in your organization! Thanks to all conference attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and friends!

Beyond the "high", we also left the "Summit" full of  innovative "Leading Practice" inspiration and we're hungry for more! To satisfy your infectious cravings, the CPBB is revisiting each conference session on this blog. The intent is to recap the energetic session presentation(s) and reinforce the innovative "leading practice" concepts discussed at the "Summit!"

To continue this blog series, we will review the electric Day 2 morning conference sessions. ENJOY!
 

Shayne Kavanagh, Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)

The legendary Shayne Kavanagh (GFOA) kicked off an explosive Day 2 by discussing Leading Practices and

Shayne Kavanagh, GFOA

their Context on Long Term Financial Planning. Shayne began by defining Long Term Financial Planning (LTFP) and emphasizing how critical this is for the fiscal success of local government communities. LTFP is defined as: A combination of technical analysis and strategizing; A collaborative and visionary process; and an anchor of financial sustainability. 

Shayne went on to outline the five pillars of LTFP. These include:

• Long-Term Service Vision
• Financial Policies
• Technically Sound Analysis & Forecasting
• Collaborative & Participative Process
• Connection to Other Plans

As Shayne walked us through each of the five pillars of LTFP he emphasized the importance of implementing a Collaborative & Participative Process as the foundation for developing LTFP.



 
Shayne continued his presentation by outlining Risk Based Reserve Analysis (with a Case Study of the City of Colorado Springs) and ended by explaining the concept of Lean Process Improvement (as a critical compliment to Priority Based Budgeting). See the full slide presentation here.

Pete Peterson, Davenport Institute of Public Policy

With Priority Based Budgeting as Civic Innovation, Pete Peterson (Davenport Institute) riveted "Summit" attendees as he brought to life stories of success in "legitimate citizen engagement"and how it directly supports Priority Based Budgeting.

Pete Peterson, Davenport Institute "Are we fired up?!!"

Pete set the Agenda for his presentation… "first, I want to define what this quiet revolution is…next have an understanding of how many local gov’t officials view “public engagement”…related, I will define the ironies of public engagement…followed by concepts that we have found in our consulting with and training public sector officials…and conclude with an incredible story from a small (but famous) Los Angeles-area city. And I’m going to do this in 12 minutes…so are we fired up? Ready to Go?" The crowd responded enthusiastically!

 
Pete jumped into the well documented theory surrounding the "decade of local government" best explained by ICMA Executive Director 

Bob O'Neill (The Coming Decade of Local Government... Are You Ready?). Pete theorized that this "Crisis" can lead to significant "Civic Innovation." The "Crisis" is driven by: Fiscal Crisis, Demographic Crisis, Crisis in Trust and Explosion of "2.0" Technology. The "Civic Innovation" response will be led by: Collaboration (Inside Government), Engagement (Outside Government) and Technology (Either in Communication or Evaluation). 

Pete outlined the theory of "Moneyball Government" as "One thing that is essential to a more results-driven government is holding politicians accountable for their support of failing programs. Interest groups regularly rate politicians on their adherence to a particular perspective. What if we had a Moneyball Index, easily accessible to voters and the media, that rated each member of Congress on their votes to fund programs that have been shown not to work?” (“Can Gov’t Play Moneyball?” The Atlantic, Bridgeland and Orzag, July 2013)

Pete continued his presentation by providing case studies of  successful examples of "Civic Innovation" across the local government community. See the rest of Pete's fascinating session here.

Anton Gardner, Commonwealth Center for High Performance Organizations

Anton Gardner, Commonwealth Center for HPO

Anton Gardner with the Commonwealth Center for High Performance Organizations rounded out the Day 2 "Summit" morning session with a presentation on Priority based Budgeting and the High Performance Organization (HPO).

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This session highlights the key factors that matter most when you want to move towards higher performance in your organization by providing an overview of the High Performance Organizations (HPO) Model that many local governments are using to sharpen their performance, increase citizen satisfaction and reduce costs. Through a leadership focus, Anton explains how both the “vision” and “values” of an organization can increase employee engagement and bring out the many talents hidden in most local governments. The High Performance Organization Model has been named as a best practice by ICMA's Center for Management Strategies.

Anton kicked off his comprehensive session by outlining characteristics of engaged employees, disengaged employees, employee response(s) to organizational transition and "engaging all the employee has to offer." Through meaningful staff interaction, organizational leadership and deep employee engagement, Anton unveiled a Networked Talent Model designed to create a holistic "work" environment.

Anton went on to define "High Performance" and several key diagnostic questions every organization must answer to individually acknowledge how they define "High Performance." He continued outlining the HPO Change Model by identifying 6 Key "Change Levers" and how they apply in constructing a true High Performance Organization. To see Anton's full HPO presentation click here.

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs

150+ local government "Summit" attendee rock-stars can't be wrong!!!!

Day 2 of the "Summit" was an enormous success highlighting three critical local government "Leading Practices" (Priority Based Budgeting, High Performance Organization(s) and Civic Engagement). An amazing Day 2 morning session of learning, creativity and innovation! Stay tuned for the next series of blogs highlighting the amazing Day 2 afternoon "Summit" sessions (local government expert case studies and the "user group" experience!

Finally, in an effort to ensure everybody has access to the conference session presentation slides, we've set up two additional folders within the ICMA Knowledge Network Center for Management Strategies Group and DropBox to help those who don't have access to Google Docs. Both of these sites will require people to sign-in (if they already have an account), or create an account and then sign-in (if they don't already have an account).

ICMA Center for Management Strategies Group 

DropBox

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates and to feed the "local government high" inspired by the "Summit." Sign-up for our social media pages so you stay connected with TEAM CPBB!

    

If you're thinking of jumping into the world of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting we would certainly like to be part of your efforts! Contact us to schedule a free webinar and identify the best CPBB service option(s) to meet your organization's particular needs.

                                                 

"DATA VISUALIZATION" for Local Government

 

CPBB "Summit" Local Government High: PBB from an Elected Officials Perspective, Civic Engagement and Citizen Surveys Recap

Co-founders of CPBB: Chris Fabian & Jon Johnson

What an exciting CPBB 2013 "Summit of Leading Practices" Annual Conference last week! I know we are still riding high from the creative energy and innovative concepts discussed during the two day "Summit." We hope you're feeling the "local government high" and take this energy home and apply it in your organization! Thanks to all conference attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and friends!

Beyond the "high", we also left the "Summit" full of  innovative "Leading Practice" inspiration and we're hungry for more! To satisfy your infectious cravings, the CPBB is revisiting each conference session on this blog over the next 1-2 weeks. The intent is to recap the energetic session presentation(s) and reinforce the innovative "leading practice" concepts discussed at the "Summit!"

To continue this blog series, we will review the riveting Day 1 afternoon conference sessions. ENJOY!

Kathie Novak, Senior Advisor, Center for Priority Based Budgeting, Lecturer at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver

Kathie Novak kicked-off the afternoon with a unique session The Imperative of Fiscal Health and

Kathie Novak

Priority Based Budgeting from the Elected Officials Perspective. She is able to provide this perspective as a former long-term Council member, former two-term Mayor of the City of Northglenn, Colorado, and former President of the National League of Cities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Key to Kathie's presentation was how the tools of Fiscal Health and Priority Based Budgeting are being introduced as a way to help elected officials guide policy in the way they approach various budget decisions. Kathie shared insights about organizations who want to bring their elected officials into the process, and who want to help coach their elected officials how to use Priority Based Budgeting to guide policy-oriented discussions.  

One of the benefits of the process is that it creates specific roles for elected officials to participate and succeed. According to Kathie, when elected officials can focus on key policy questions that impact resource allocation, when they’re provided input and transparency in the way their policy questions are answered, and when they can make decisions based on policy impacts, then they’ve played a successful role in budgeting. 

Kathie states, "I so believe in what the Center is doing…helping elected officials and communities really understand their financial situation, better communicate that information to their citizens, and use that information to make the best decisions possible for their communities in light of  changing economic situations.    The tools they have developed help policy makers move from the “What we know we need/would like to do”  to the “How do we actually make it happen.”  I wish I had this available when I was in office!"

Mike Coen, Peak Democracy

OPEN TOWN HALL 

Following Kathie was Mike Coen of Peak Democracy with the conference Technology & Tools Showcase #3: Online Citizen Engagement Tool, Peak Democracy on Civic Engagement in Context of PBB.  Civic Engagement is one of the four pillars of ICMA's Center for Management Strategies "Leading Practices" and Peak Democracy is one of the leading experts in providing online citizen engagement tools for local governments.

Mike led attendees through the importance of online civic engagement and how this can increase public trust in government by empowering constituents to participate and have a voice in their community. Mike went on to explain that constituents are already engaging with friends, family, banks, utilities and other private service providers online... why not with their government? 

Mike summarized by stating, "Constituents want to participate in civil online forums and government leaders need online forums that build public trust in government."

See this Priority Based Budgeting + Peak Democracy civic engagement case study featuring Douglas County, NV.

Tom Miller, President, National Research Center

The Day 1 grand finale conference session was presented by Tom Miller, President of the National Research Center.  Tom's presentation, Technology and Tools Showcase #4: Using Resident Opinion to Influence Decision Making, encouraged local government leaders to listen to the voices of residents (can you really hear them?).

The National Research Center, home of the National Citizen Survey, is a research firm specializing in

Tom Miller speaking at the "Summit"

performance measurement and evaluation. They conduct survey research by mail, phone, in-person and on the Internet. They analyze new and existing data sets using sophisticated inferential techniques or simple descriptive statistics. In addition to quantitative analyses, they design and conduct focus groups and other qualitative assessments. Their clients often are local governments, foundations and not-for-profit human service agencies.                                                                                           

Tom launched his presentation discussing the history of surveys, their purpose and their power in gaging public opinion. He highlighted the NRC's survey work and the value the survey results brought to staff and elected officials.

 

Tom summarized his presentation by highlighting the power and influence surveys can have when the information gathered leads to collaboration between elected officials, residents and city staff leads to thoughtful and innovative community decisions. Great work NRC!

150+ local government "Summit" attendee rock-stars can't be wrong!!!!

 Day 1 of the "Summit" was an enormous success highlighting two critical local government "Leading Practices" (Priority Based Budgeting and Civic Engagement) while also rolling out not 1, not 2, but 4 local gov tech tools. An amazing day of learning, creativity and innovation! Stay tuned for the next series of blogs highlighting the amazing Day 2 "Summit" sessions!

Finally, in an effort to ensure everybody has access to the conference session presentation slides, we've set up two additional folders within the ICMA Knowledge Network Center for Management Strategies Group and DropBox to help those who don't have access to Google Docs. Both of these sites will require people to sign-in (if they already have an account), or create an account and then sign-in (if they don't already have an account).

ICMA Center for Management Strategies Group 

DropBox

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates and to feed the "local government high" inspired by the "Summit." Sign-up for our social media pages so you stay connected with TEAM CPBB!

    

If you're thinking of jumping into the world of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting we would certainly like to be part of your efforts! Contact us to schedule a free webinar and identify the best CPBB service option(s) to meet your organization's particular needs.