City of Toledo, OH Launches Citizens Priorities Survey!

“What we are hoping is that we're going to have a real overview of the 733 programs that the city performs, what they cost, and then a sense of how much they actually meet our priorities as a city," Toledo Councilwoman Sandy Spang

The City of Toledo is spending money to save money. City council is changing the way they look at the budget hoping to save money in the end.

Councilperson Sandy Spang said, "We'll be able to look at the ones that are very effective, that are really essential to our community, and the ones where we may be able to make cuts."

Spang has been an advocate for a switch to priority-based budgeting. She says this process will make more transparent where and how the city spends the taxpayers' money.

"We will have information at our hands that we don't have right now. Council, because council has to approve the spending that comes before us, this is going to give us a great tool to be able to understand where we want to allocate dollars," she said.

And now the City has launched a Citizens Priorities Survey to further engage citizens in the priority based budgeting initiative.

As Allie Hausfeld with WTOL reports (City hopes get citizen input with new survey), on Tuesday, the mayor and city council released a new Citizen’s Priorities Survey, which gives residents the opportunity to rank the importance of different programs within the city.

“What we are hoping is that we're going to have a real overview of the 733 programs that the city performs, what they cost, and then a sense of how much they actually meet our priorities as a city," said Councilwoman Sandy Spang.

This survey is live online until June 5. City leaders say it’s imperative to get as much feedback as they can during this time.

The results will help each department figure out where priorities should be according to the citizens. Within each department, they are working on figuring out the costs of different programs.

Although changes aren't going to happen overnight to the city budget, Spang says hearing from the taxpayers is important for its success.

"Great cities set big goals, and in order for Toledo to set big goals and reach them, we're going to have to free resources towards those goals," Councilwoman Spang said. "I think this will be an opportunity for citizens to talk about what matters to them."

Spang says she hopes the city continues this survey in the years to come, and can evolve with the survey’s results.


Related Articles:

City of Toledo, OH Partners with Toledo Chamber to Bring PBB to the City

City of Toledo Mayor Hopes Move to PBB Will Restore Faith in City Government

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.

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PBB Provides Branson, MO "A More Fiscally Sustainable Future for the City."

"This year presented the Finance Department with many challenges while drafting the budget, however, priority based budgeting proved an exceedingly valuable tool that provides a "new lens" to balance and present a more fiscally sustainable future for the city." - Jamie Rouch, Branson Finance Director

As Jamie Rouch from the City of Branson, Missouri put it, the evolution of the PBB Master Plan has necessarily shifted from helping communities “implement PBB, to using PBB data to make change!” 

The City of Branson was the first city in Missouri to implement Priority Based Budgeting. Under the leadership of Finance Director Jamie Rouch and City Manager Bill Malinen, the City pursued PBB as a direct means to connect the way they budgeted to the long-term vision and Strategic Plan that Council had developed for the future of the community.

Branson was among the first communities to truly recognize the power of PBB to unify and fortify budgeting with strategic planning. They realized that a Strategic Plan is incomplete, without the backing and support of resources (money and people) to achieve it - PBB was their tool to execute and implement the Strategic Plan, a vital road map for it’s ultimate fulfillment. And to cap it off, under Jamie’s guidance and vision, the final step in this process was communicating their plan, and their story, to their citizens, in the most magnificent way.

This year Branson created a Budget Magazine to compliment their budget book. The intent was to unlock the budget information from the budget for citizens to more clearly understand the Branson budget through info-graphics and short, concise sections.

The Budget Magazine also includes a Priority Based Budgeting section so that citizens can better understand how Branson uses PBB for strategic planning and budgeting. See a snapshot of the PBB section of the Branson Budget Magazine below or to see the full Budget Magazine click here.

Congratulations to the City of Branson for their innovative application of PBB + Strategic Planning and unlocking the budget for the benefit of their citizens!

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.

www.ResourceX.net