City of Boulder Cites Priority Based Budgeting as Key to their Financial Stability According to State of the City Address

City of Boulder is Stable According to State of the City Address

The State of the City address, given by Boulder mayor Susan Osborne and City Manager Jane Brautigam, indicates that Boulder is relatively stable, though the economy is clearly everyone’s number one concern.

The city has taken steps to be more fiscally conscious, including using a new priority-based budget system. "Our Priority Based Budgeting system will help identify the most essential services as we continue to engage the community in articulating our shared values."

Christiansburg Virginia's Priority Based Budgeting Initiative Focus of 2011 Keating Report on Government Budgets and Spending

2011 Keating Report on Government Budgets and Spending Forecast - GovPro article

Local governments are contracting with not-for-profit groups like the Denver-based Center for Priority Based Budgeting to help with the budget process. Christianburg, Va., (2009 population, 19,638) recently approved an agreement to use the center's services starting with fiscal year 2011-12.

"We have to find a new way to do our budget. The way we've been doing it is not going to work," said Christianburg's finance director, Val Tweedie when the deal was announced. Contracting with the company would allow for a "healthier" budget process, Tweedie said.

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting consults with governing bodies to assess departments, goals and needs in relation to spending, while helping establish a budget process that works best for the municipality. The firm uses a detailed scoring system for each department and prioritizes activities based on performance and need when considering the budget.

City of Walnut Creek Showcased for Citizen Engagement in Priority Based Budgeting at Institute for Local Government Conference (MMANC 2010)

Best Practices in Participatory Budgeting


This session at the Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC) Annual Conference in October 2010 featured innovative city efforts to engage the public in local budgeting. Moderated by Terry Amsler, Institute for Local Government, Walnut Creek Assistant City Manager Lorie Tinfow was a featured speaker on Priority Based Budgeting and the City's extraordinary efforts in citizen engagement.



Best Practices in Budgeting Session at 2010 MMANC Annual Conference from Institute for Local Government on Vimeo.

Monterey Provides Community with Outstanding Overview of Priority Based Budget Initiative

Christiansburg Mayor Interviewed as Priority Based Budgeting Initiative Gets Underway

CHRISTIANSBURG, VA -- Christiansburg town leaders vote to bring in budgeting help. The town will be paying an estimated $22,000 to the Center for Prioritized Budgeting.

"They will help us better prioritize our budget, deciding what our money should be spent on," said Barry Helms, interim Town Manager.

Christiansburg, VA Embarks on Priority Based Budgeting: "This gives some rhyme and reason to trying to avoid the situation we've had in past years"

Christiansburg Town Council votes to buy budget help - Roanoke.com
By Lerone Graham
The Roanoke Times

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to contract with a not-for-profit organization to help with the budget process.

"We have to find a new way to do our budget. The way we've been doing it is not going to work," said Finance Director Val Tweedie.

The Center for Priority Based Budgeting consults with governing bodies to assess departments, goals and needs in reference to spending, while helping establish a budget process that works best for the municipality.

Davenport Institute - Leading Citizen Engagement Organization - Highlights Monterey and Fairfield Initiatives

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:21184.8816554396/rid:203d8cd02cf66abe9b5c74cee09edce4
Since it's founding as a multi-partisan and non-profit organization in 2005, The Davenport Institute (formerly Common Sense California) has worked to engage the citizens of California in the policy decisions that affect the everyday lives of Californians. It is their firm belief that, in today's world of easy access to information, and easy connectivity to others, California's municipal and education leaders are seeking ways to involve the residents of their communities in the important issues they confront. Done legitimately, this new kind of leadership produces better, more creative policy solutions and better, more engaged citizens committed to the hard work of self-governance.

In their latest newsletter, the Priority Based Budgeting efforts in the City of Fairfield and the City of Monterey are highlighted to the extent that they are helping to accomplish what the Davenport Institute is also aiming to achieve. Tremendous recognition for Fairfield and Monterey.

City Manager Reflects on City of Fairfield's Priority Based Budgeting Initiative

City of Fairfield, CA - News Details
City Manager discusses the results of Priority Based Budgeting

At the beginning of the year, the City Council established one goal -- fix the budget. The purpose of this article is to convey the results of the City's Priority Based Budgeting process, which is a crucial milestone in achieving this goal. The results provide a valuable tool to assist the City in developing solutions to address its Fiscal Year 2011/12 General Fund deficit.

The purposes of this process were to obtain a thorough evaluation of the organization's programs and services, to engage the public in a meaningful discussion of our budget challenges, and to understand the community's priorities. On all accounts, the process was successful.

View the City's Summary Memo on their project website:
http://www.fairfield.ca.gov/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=6366

Opening Night for Monterey Citizen Forums to Engage Community in Priority Based Budgeting Process

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_16530721
Monterey uses play money to help with budget issues
City asks residents for value ranking
By LARRY PARSONS

The city of Monterey is inviting residents and taxpayers to use $500 of play money to help with the city's next budget. The city is facing an estimated $5 million budget gap when it starts putting together its 2011-12 budget, the latest in a string of spending squeezes.

As a result, the city is using a different approach to put together its next budget, a technique called "priority-based budgeting" that is being used by a growing number of public agencies around the country.

Can Priority Based Budgeting Reveal the Common Ground Among Our Elected Officials?

Grand Island mayoral candidates discuss budget issues News 5: Coverage You Can Count On Local News

The Mayoral race in Grand Island pits two candidates against each other, each opposed to the other on the issue of taxes. Yet, as the article captures below, they both agree on one point: "Prioritization is the key."

This begs the question - can Priority Based Budgeting be a unifying common ground for our elected officials? Can the focus on Prioritization usurp the discussion of politics as usual. It seems Prioritization has the potential to be a unifying conversation, even in these times when budget discussions have been so divisive. We'd love to hear your thoughts and perspectives on this topic!

Oakland Tribune: Priority-based budgeting means asking residents what they want - Inside Bay Area

Barnidge: Priority-based budgeting means asking residents what they want - Inside Bay Area
NOT EVERY government officials conference is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Sometimes they put down their umbrella drinks long enough to address significant matters. So it was earlier this week in San Jose, where the International City/County Management Association held its 96th annual conference, with every eyeball in the crowd searching for ways to balance a shrinking budget.

The presentation focused on priority-based budgeting, which translates roughly to this: Which programs are most important to residents and which can be whacked? That may sound numbingly simple, but it represents a departure from traditional thinking. "Across-the-board budget cuts preserve mediocrity in all programs," said Jon Johnson, senior manager for the Center for Priority Based Budgeting. "We want to find the top programs, those that help us achieve the results we seek." He said San Jose once had nearly 600 city-funded programs, obviously not all of them essential. The challenge was identifying which were most valued. The solution -- imagine this! -- was to ask the people.

Said Johnson: "It's important to ask not whether police are more important than libraries but what programs are of the highest interest to citizens." (That police-library thing sounds vaguely familiar.)

Cities need to look within for help, too. Volunteers are an important resource. "Part of the new paradigm is not treating citizens as our customers but as our partners," said budgeting expert Chris Fabian

PBB Guides Funding Decisions as City of Boulder Recommends 2011 Budget

http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/City%20Council/Study%20Sessions/2010/Aug_24_2010_SS/2011_recommended_budget.pdf

From the City Manager's Letter: "PBB has introduced a mechanism to determine if city programs are accomplishing city goals, are appropriately provided by local government, and if programs could be more efficiently provided by developing new partnerships with community organizations."

From Budget Document: "In this first year of PBB, the process was used as a guide in making funding decisions in the City Manager's 2011 Recommended Budget. It is one of several tools that can inform staff and council in strategically targeting funding reallocations in a number of ways including:

• improved efficiencies in any of the four quartiles,
• reallocation of funding based on the changing needs of the community, and
• model program budget impacts based on city revenues.

PBB will continue to evolve each year, and it is anticipated that program inventories, results and definitions may be adjusted to ensure their alignment with community needs and values.

City of Monterey Hosts Priority-based Budget Public Meeting #1

From Chris Fabian: Many of you have asked about the Town Hall meetings where citizens are invited to define the community's results: "what does this look like in action?" Between these pictures, and the video we'll post in the next week or so, hopefully you'll get a good sense of the "Green Screen" exercise we keep referencing, and the collaboration between staff and citizens in the building of results. These pictures are from last night in Monterey which was just an incredibly productive night.

MONTEREY LAUNCHES PRIORITY-BASED BUDGETING
Public Input Sought
By Communications & Outreach Manager Anne McGrath
http://www.monterey.org/focus/
 
The City of Monterey is launching a public review of its budget priorities this fall and your participation is vital to the success of the Priority-based Budgeting project. In good times, the City allocated its resources to a wide range of programs and services. Now, the City needs to adjust to "the new normal" of reduced revenues. In Monterey, revenue from hotel, sales and property taxes have fallen to levels not seen in years. Significant recovery is unlikely for the next several years. So, the City needs to tighten its belt just like other municipalities, businesses and citizens have done.
Several public meetings will be held in October and November to gather public input on City priorities for the future with the assistance of two nationally known consultants who are working with 16 other cities. Monterey is in much better financial shape than many other municipalities, and taking these steps pro-actively is critical to continuing on a path of fiscal soundness.

Fairfield Citizen Engagement Process Reaches Over 1,300 Citizens by Taking Prioritization Directly to Community Meetings

http://www.fairfield.ca.gov/gov/depts/finance/budget_suggestion_box.asp

From Mid-August through September 22, 2010, the City embarked on a comprehensive public outreach process to solicit the community’s input as to how the City should allocate its resources across the City’s four results. 

The City received more than 1,300 responses that have all been collected and analyzed. 

Feedback was obtained by having staff attend and administer a survey at community, service club, business, and homeowner meetings, being available before all City Council and Commission meetings that occurred within the timeframe for this work, soliciting the input of City employees through electronic and paper surveys, and seeking the input of the community by having the survey available on the City’s website, City Hall at the Mall, and speaking to families that utilize the City’s preschool and afterschool programs. 

City of Monterey Launches Extensive Public Engagement Process to Continue their Work in Priority Based Budgeting

http://www.monterey.org/newsroom/2010/pbblaunch100908.pdf

The City of Monterey is changing the way its annual budget is developed, so programs are transparent and linked to results, and citizens help set priorities. The process is called Priority-based Budgeting and it recasts the budget into programs instead of line items. Citizens are asked to define broad goals, such as quality of life, and then prioritize how they want their tax dollars spent to achieve those goals.

Public meetings will be held in October and November to gather citizen input. The first public meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 6 from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. at the Monterey Conference Center. At that session, citizens will be briefed about the priority based budgeting process and will help refine the goals articulated by the City Council as a series of Value Drivers. A second round of public meetings will be held the week of November 8 – 12. At those sessions, citizens will be given an imaginary $500 to spend on the goals they believe are most important.