Georgia on our Mind: CPBB Kicks Off Priority Based Budgeting in Roswell, Georgia

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting is proud to initiate implementation of Priority Based Budgeting with the City of Roswell, Georgia today. According to today's story in the Roswell Patch:

The Roswell Mayor & Council will get an overview of priority-based budgeting Wednesday during a special called work session.

The meeting begins at 11 a.m. and will take place in Room 220 of City Hall, 38 Hill Street.

Last month, the Mayor & Council approved spending for consulting work from the Center for Priority-Based Budgeting, which will be introduced and whose representatives will outline the concept at the work session.

The Denver-based organization says that priority-based budgeting, which came into vogue four years ago, "aligns city services and programs," and that the concept has gained more interest from local governments since the recession.

Alliance for Innovation explains the concept this way:

"Priority-based budgeting is a way for local governments to spend within their means by continuously focusing on the results most relevant to their communities and the programs that influence those results to the highest possible degree. The process involves a systematic review of existing services, why they exist, what value they offer to citizens, how they benefit the community, what they cost, and what objectives and citizen demands they are achieving. Each service or program is assigned a score based on its contribution to desired results so that tax dollars can be allocated to those with the greatest impact."

For more in depth information on the core concepts of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting see the links below.

-City of Walnut Creek, California “2012-2014 Budget Story”
 
-October article in ICMA's Public Management Magazine. 

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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

A Dazzling Portrait of the Power of Priority Based Budgeting

“A Community Connected: The 2012-14 Budget Story” seeks to share our budget information in a new way. It identifies what we plan to do over the next two years with the resources placed under our stewardship. It explains the processes we’ve put in place with the community to set the goals that guided our budget decisions. And it tells our story in a way that we hope will be more engaging and easy to follow, using graphics, photos and short stories.”

 - City Manager, Ken Nordhoff, from Page 1: The 2012-2014 Budget Story

So many of us are working so hard to make headway in “authentic citizen engagement.” It’s not easy! One of our fundamental objectives in creating the “unique lens” of Priority Based Budgeting was and continues to be offering a way to “see” the budget in a way that is so easy, so clear, any citizen, any elected official, any staff member, anybody could understand immediately how decisions are made. Not only that, but we want to make it so clear what decisions and what options are open to us and to provide clarity where it’s sometimes uncertain – that was much of the focus of our October article in ICMA's Public Management Magazine.

The City of Walnut Creek, California is among the earliest-adopters of Priority Based Budgeting, having first implemented the process in 2009. As Priority Based Budgeting continues to be the leading practice the most innovative communities continue to implement across the country, we wanted to share with you one of the most significant breakthroughs to date in the work – highlighting what the City has done to transform the way they communicate about the budget with their citizens.

With the “2012-2014 Budget Story,” we are so pleased to introduce you yet another innovation from Walnut Creek! Click here for the full report.

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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

"Resource Liberation" - The CPBB Video Espresso Blast #3

Peter Diamandis’ book “Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think” promotes an idea that is

imperative for our time. The idea is that scarcity is contextual – it may be true that certain resources are scarce, or it may be that they’re simply inaccessible.

Says Diamandis, “imagine a giant orange tree packed with fruit. If I pluck all the oranges from the lower branches, I am effectively out of accessible fruit. From my limited perspective, oranges are now scarce. But once someone invents a piece of technology called a ladder, I’ve suddenly got new reach. Problem solved. Technology is a resource-liberating mechanism. It can make the once scarce the now abundant.”

Priority Based Budgeting as a Resource-Liberating Mechanism

People and money are among the resources that we feel are scarce these days in local government. We don't have enough money to maintain our services. We don't have enough people to do the work. We seek tax increases because inherently we feel we need more and more to do the job.

But what if we actually had all the resources we ever needed? What if our scarcity problem was also contextual? What if we found out we had more resources than we need to build hugely successful communities? Is it possible that our people and our money (human and financial resources) are literally tied up, locked into providing services that may be of lesser priority, and/or services that other service providers (public and private) are willing and able to provide?

Through the lens of Priority Based Budgeting, communities are finding ways to free those resources and re-allocate them to new and extremely important programs and initiatives. They’re also finding other community resources and are more and more able to share in the pursuit of achieving Results. 

"Resource Liberation" - The CPBB Espresso Blast #3

At the Center for Priority Based Budgeting, we're all about creativity and innovation in all forms. Whether it be through expanding and improving our core concepts of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting, migrating our Fiscal Health tool to a web-based Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool, or finding transformative new ways to communicate how local government communities are implementing these revolutionary tools and concepts, we're never satisfied with the status quo in this Decade of Local Government.

With this in mind, we're rolling out the third of many breakthrough CPBB Video Espresso Blast(s). The Espresso Blast is designed to provide a fundamentally new platform for the CPBB to explore innovative new trends in local government and further exhibit how CPBB communities are successfully transforming the way they deliver services and conduct business. These videos are short, concise and chock full of entertaining and valuable content.

Our first Espresso Blast, titled "How it All Started", explored the genesis of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting and the formulation of our core concepts. Our second Espresso Blast "The Decade of Local Government" dived deep into the enormous opportunities available for local government communities in this new era.

This new video expands upon these opportunities by introducing the proven practice of Resource Liberation.  Check out our video Espresso Blast #3 and supporting articles below!

"Resource Liberation"

CPBB Espresso Blast #3

 

Supporting Articles:

CPBB Hangs Out with Peter Diamandis - PBB as a Resource Liberating Tool 

 

Are YOU Running Government Like a Business? 

 

From Scarcity to Abundance: Resource Liberation Through the Power of Shared Services

 

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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

Are YOU Ready for the National League of Cities Congress of Cities!

The National League of Cities Congress of Cities will showcase the dynamic ways cities are driving change and finding successful solutions to the most pressing challenges in local government. Thousands of innovative local government leaders from around the nation attend NLC's annual conference every year. We at the Center for Priority Based Budgeting (CPBB) couldn't be more excited to attend, participate and present at this powerful event!

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting has two workshops at the Congress of Cities 

specifically designed to assist elected officials and senior staff achieve local economic and fiscal health.

Co-founders Chris Fabian & Jon Johnson, in addition to CPBB Senior Advisor Kathie Novak (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), will be presenting.

On Wednesday, November 13th at 1:30 PM, we'll be presenting Priority Based Budgeting 
Part I - Achieving Fiscal Health - Tools & Techniques for Diagnosis & Treatment

During this half-day training, you will hear about the five (5) basic principles of "Fiscal Health" and learn how to use proven tools and techniques to help ease your organization's fiscal stress for the short-term and improve its financial sustainability for the long-term.  

You will learn how to "self-assess" your own financial situation through a series of diagnostic questions that will validate where your organization is "healthy" and pin-point where your organization can improve. The workshop will also demonstrate the use of a simple, interactive diagnostic tool that can help any organization more effectively communicate its fiscal position to all interested stakeholders (including staff, elected officials, bargaining units, and ultimately, citizens) as well as serve as a monitoring tool to ensure that the organization remains the "picture of Fiscal Health". 

On Thursday, November 14th at 9:00 AM, we'll be presenting Priority Based Budgeting 
Part II - Looking at Your Budget through a NEW Lens 

Local governments continue to face previously unknown financial and political pressures as they struggle to develop meaningful and fiscally prudent budgets.  Revenues are at best stable (or even declining), while demand for services continues to increase.  Citizens believe that government budgets are "fat" and that this is ample waste to "cut".  Civic leaders more often than not, focus on "across the board" cuts that spreads the pain equally - but also encourages mediocrity rather than excellence. 

Priority Based Budgeting is a unique and innovative approach being used by local governments across the Country to match available resources with community priorities, provide information to elected officials that lead to better informed decisions, meaningfully engage citizens in the budgeting process and, finally, escape the traditional routine of basing "new" budgets on revisions to the "old" budget.  This holistic approach helps to provide elected officials and other decision-makers with a "new lens" through which to frame better-informed financial and budgeting decisions and helps ensure that a community is able to identify and preserve those programs and services that are most highly valued.   

Register for these innovative workshops here. 

For your convenience, we're also available for private meetings to more comprehensively discuss and explore how the CPBB may best be able to assist your local government community. To schedule a one-on-one meeting, contact Chris Fabian via e-mail or by phone/text at 303.520.1356.

We look forward to seeing you and discussing all the creative and innovative concepts so many local government communities are implementing across the country! 

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting™ (CPBB), established in 2010, provides technical and advisory services to assist local governments, school districts, special districts and other non-profit agencies achieve Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting. This creative and innovative process, developed by CPBB, enables communities to reassess their priorities in order to make sound, long-term funding decisions. CPBB's mission is to be a trusted advisor and a dependable, objective resource, assisting local government leaders who are seeking service excellence, transparency to their stakeholders and a strong desire to achieve the Results that are important to their community.

From large organizations (such as the cities of Cincinnati, Ohio, Sacramento, California and Edmonton, Alberta) to mid-sized communities (like the Colorado cities of Boulder, Wheat Ridge and Fort Collins) to smaller communities (such as Blue Ash, Ohio and Douglas County, Nevada), the processes and tools developed by CPBB have proven effective, scalable, and best of all, repeatable. CPBB has already led 50+ communities through this comprehensive body of work.

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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

"The Decade of Local Government" - The CPBB Espresso Blast #2

The next 10 years will most likely be a defining period for local governments, including your own. In a June 27, 2012, Governing magazine article, ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill declared this time as “the next decade [for local government] will be a time in which the fiscal woes of federal and state governments will leave local and regional governments on their own, struggling to balance the need for innovation against the necessity of making tough choices.

“It will also be a decade in which local government will lead the way in developing creative solutions to extraordinary problems. There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about this coming decade of local government.”

A New Environment

The recession may officially be over according to economists, but unlike the normal ebb and flow of the past, the picture is dramatically different than anything managers have experienced during other economic cycles. Local governments are realizing that they will not simply return to the status quo that existed before the recession.

At the Center for Priority Based Budgeting, we're all about creativity and innovation in all forms. Whether it be through expanding and improving our core concepts of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting, migrating our Fiscal Health tool to a web-based Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool, or finding transformative new ways to communicate how local government communities are implementing these revolutionary tools and concepts, we're never satisfied with the status quo in this Decade of Local Government.

With this in mind, we're rolling out the second of many breakthrough CPBB Video Espresso

Blast(s). The Espresso Blast is designed to provide a fundamentally new platform for the CPBB to explore innovative new trends in local government and further exhibit how CPBB communities are successfully transforming the way they deliver services and conduct business. These videos are short, concise and chock full of entertaining and valuable content.

Our first Espresso Blast, titled "How it All Started", explored the genesis of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting and the formulation of our core concepts. This NEW video enthusiastically dives deep into the enormous opportunities available for local government communities in this new era. Check out our video Espresso Blast #2 and supporting articles below!

"The Decade of Local Government"

CPBB Espresso Blast #2

Supporting articles:

Facing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities in this Decade of Local Government

Priority Based Budgeting and the Power Inversion: Case Studies in the "Decade of Local Government"

Are YOU Running Government Like a Business?

The Decade of Local Government 2.0

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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

 

 

 

How a City Defines the "Results" it's in Business to Achieve

The City of Salinas, California will take another huge step in bringing Priority Based Budgeting to fruition during the upcoming City Council meeting on Tuesday, November 5th. On the agenda during this meeting, the City Council will consider the fundamental reasons why the City provides programs and detail what goals the City of Salinas seeks to achieve: Results (and their corresponding Result Definitions).

What’s so tremendously exciting is that the City’s elected officials are attempting to articulate for what reasons they channel tax dollars to the programs they create, expand and partner to produce. “Results” stand for what it means to have a successful community, and a quality of life unique to the citizens of the City of Salinas, California.

Central to Priority Based Budgeting is the idea that all local government organizations can determine the role they're suited to serve best within a community, and amongst all potential service providers within a region - identifying the overlap, the potential for partnerships, consolidated services, and spinning off of services between city, county, school district, non-profit and private sector organizations. The end goal is nothing short of the most efficient use of a community's resources as a whole, to achieve the results of a region – it’s "bang for the buck" for the provision of public services.

Click here to read the full 29-page Report to the City Council of the City of Salinas, California.

Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. 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