--> "This cutting edge trend is now a best practice and is growing in the government sector because it is helping cities, counties and other governmental agencies allocate resources to programs that matter most."- City of Salinas Finance Director
The following Report to the City Council, and more comprehensive City of Salinas PBB Process Report, will be presented at the September 9th Council meeting. The CPBB congratulates the City of Salinas staff leadership and staff for their successful implementation of PBB!
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REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL - City of Salinas, California
DATE: September
9, 2014
FROM: Matt
N. Pressey, CPA, Finance Director
SUBJECT: PRIORITY BASED BUDGETING – Administrative
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the
Council accept this administrative report and identify key policy questions and
areas for departments to explore further.
DISCUSSION:
During the Council meeting, Chris Fabian with the Center for Priority
Based Budgeting will provide in-depth coverage of how the “Resource Alignment
Diagnostic Tool” can be used and he will facilitate a discussion with Council
to identify key policy questions and areas Council may want departments to
explore further using the Priority Based Budgeting model. Chris will provide an overview of the types
of policy questions that exist and provide samples of policy questions other
agencies have come up with.
Background
With the leadership of the City Manager and City Council, staff has been
working on a significant new way of allocating valuable City resources:
Priority Based Budgeting. This cutting
edge trend is now a best practice and is growing in the government sector because
it is helping cities, counties and other governmental agencies allocate
resources to programs that matter most.
Priority Based Budgeting has been declared a leading practice for
government management by the International City/County Manager’s Association
(ICMA). Priority Based Budgeting is a
strategic alternative to traditional budgeting. The philosophy of
priority-driven budgeting is that resources should be allocated according to
how effectively a program or service meets the City Council’s goals and
priorities and how effectively a program or service achieves the goals and
objectives that are of greatest value to the community.
City Staff have progressed through the first four steps and are now in
the final, fifth step of evaluating the model data and will begin to use the
diagnostic tool. The diagnostic tool
used in the fifth step was briefly presented to the City Council at this May 6,
2014 meeting by Chris Fabian with the Center for Priority Based Budgeting. For
the FY 2014-15 budget cycle, department heads were asked to review
The entire process has been a significant collaborative effort city wide
including over 32 directors and mangers, as well as other staff, from all
departments.
Priority Based Budgeting – Progress through the 5 Steps
As a reminder, there are five steps in priority based
budgeting:
1. Determine “Results”
—
What
are the Goals and Objectives (Results) the City is in business to achieve?
2. Define Results
— “When the City does X ,
then the Result is achieved”
3. Identify Programs and
Services
— Prepare a comprehensive
list of programs and services
— Comparing individual
programs and services as opposed to comparing departments that provide those
services allows for better priority setting
4. Value Programs Based on
Results
— Score the Programs based on
their influence on Results
5. Allocate Resources Based on
Priorities
— Using “Resource Alignment
Diagnostic Tool”
ISSUE:
Shall the City Council accept this administrative
report and identify key policy questions and areas for departments to explore
further?
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no impact to the City’s General Fund with the
Council’s acceptance of this Administrative Report.
CITY COUNCIL GOALS:
Priority Based Budgeting promotes all five of the
Council Goals of 1) Economic Diversity & Prosperity; 2) Safe, Livable
Community; 3) Effective Sustainable Government; 4) Excellent Infrastructure;
and 5) Quality of Life.
CONCLUSION:
With the fiscal challenge of addressing the General Fund structural deficit that grows to over $12.7 million by fiscal year 2019-20, the City needs a strategic approach to allocate limited resources according to how effectively a program or service achieves the goals and objectives that are of greatest value to the community.
And don't forget! The Priority Based Budgeting Resource Alignment Diagnostic Tool is going web-based! 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.
We've already built the basic model, but have invited leading local
government priority based budgeting implementers to assist us in
crafting the final product. With the launch of this powerful new
public finance technology tool, we now have 10 communities already signed
up to define the future of on-line local government budgeting! If
your community is interested in contributing to the final development of
this disruptive new tool, and being among the first to utilize on-line
priority based budgeting, contact us!
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.
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