The Center for Priority Based Budgeting (CPBB) is proud to partner with the City of Bainbridge Island, WA. Beginning in March 2014, City staff and the CPBB have worked hard in implementing priority based budgeting (PBB). In support of these efforts, the CPBB tonight presents the Resource Alignment Diagnostic Tool to City Council. The PBB "Diagnostic Tool"is the definitive resource for identifying community priorities to strategically allocate public dollars. The CPBB wishes to congratulate the City of Bainbridge Island staff and Council in their work to support priority based budgeting. Great work!
Subject: Center for Priority Based Budgeting Resource Alignment Diagnostic Tool Presentation
Action Item: The Center for Priority Based Budgeting will Present the Resource Alignment Diagnostic Tool
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!
Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. Sign-up for our social media pages so you stay connected with TEAM CPBB!
Thank you all so much for your support of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting and, in particular, our 2014 “New Wave” of Local Government (Un)Conference.
This year, we dove deep into A Revolution in how Community’s Leverage
Resources! Leading the Way in Key "Result Areas" - Through the "new
lens" of Priority Based Budgeting, communities have unveiled an entirely
unique understanding regarding the "Results of Government" that
define the very role of modern local government. The answer to the question "why do we exist" has
focused on several key "Result" areas most relevant for our time.
Our goal was to have a unique event where everybody felt connected and
ultimately left with unbridled enthusiasm to change the world. With
attendees representing 26 states, 3 countries and two continents, having
you there to participate, share your unique stories, and also learn
from the innovations of other partners and implementers – it just
couldn’t have struck the chord we wanted any better than that!
Thank you for adding to the experience for everybody! And hopefully you found it as exciting and valuable as we set out to accomplish.
The feedback we’ve received from those who attended has been astronomical! Here are a couple select comments:
"Just wanted to thank you again for putting this on. I don’t think that I have ever felt more connected or resonated more with the content and energy of a conference before!”
“Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of something very special this past week."
"The best gov conference I have ever attended!"
This year's
conference showcased leading public and private sector innovatorswho are inspiring an epic REVOLUTION in local government ( You can view the full conference program here.)!
Redefining
how to legitimately attain economic development and measurable local
job creation through the use of incubators and partnerships
Discover new models for achieving safer
communities at lesser cost
Explore revenue generation strategies attainable to every
local government that have to date remained hidden
Dive into shared service models
emerging to help local government redefine service levels in key public-public
and public-private partnerships
Understand and digest the complex role of local
government in long-term "sustainability"
Advance
past "performance measurement" to reveal a new component to priority
based budgeting that includes "results measurement" strategies
Grasp how credit rating agencies assess municipal credit ratings and how
the transparent concepts of fiscal health and priority based budgeting
can assist in stabilizing and improving bond and credit ratings
Expose your organization to the hands-on tools attainable to your community to fulfill the promise of reinventing government
Bring to light how to harvest the skill sets of the next generation of emerging leaders
Immerse yourself in the implementation
strategies, shared experiences and lessons learned of the nearly
70 communities who have successfully brought the full potential of
Fiscal Health and Priority Based Budgeting to their organizations
And this year, the CPBB also unveiled another NEW online tool!
Many of you are already utilizing our web-based Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool. We've seen its diagnostic approach to achieving Fiscal Health and the
development and utilization of its unique and innovative “Fiscal Health
Diagnostic Tool” profoundly change the conversation between local
government managers, finance professionals and elected officials.
These are but a few of the powerful ways Fiscal Health
has been used to help local government leaders achieve long-term financial
sustainability.
For many of you, this has been a long time coming. For those of you who are new to Priority Based
Budgeting, and even veteran implementers, think BIG! Your path to
realizing the promise of aligning ALL of your community's resources with
the results that matter most, through the unique lens and disruptive
local government innovation of Priority Based Budgeting, is about to get far easier and even
more effective! 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 8 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!
Finally, we could not host this event without our conference
partners, sponsors, and exhibitors. Please be sure to check out the
following organizations online to
discover the amazing and creative ways these folks are contributing to
the “New Wave” of Local Government!
We are so excited for what the future holds in this “New Wave” of local government! And feel so fortunate to contribute, with you, to the ongoing success of all local government communities!
Keep an eye on the CPBB blog for further updates. Sign-up for our social media pages so you stay connected with TEAM CPBB!
“What we’ve brought to the party is
essentially the state-of-the art method for diving into the budget and determining the objectives we want to hit.” - County Executive Thomas Muller
A new tool to help Lehigh County, PA prepare annual budgets
was presented to county commissioners and administrators Monday evening
inside the county government center in Allentown.
An analysis by the Colorado-based Center for Priority Based Budgeting
– PBB -- has determined that 228 programs offered by the county, at an
annual cost of $22.5 million, are the least relevant, based on several
factors.
That’s 228 out of a total of 1,226 programs, for which the county is paying a total of more than $340 million this year.
Specific
low priority programs were not revealed during the priority-based
budgeting presentation by Chris Fabian, co-founder of the consulting
firm, but will be made available in “a day or so” to county
commissioners, who soon will begin wrestling with the 2015 budget.
County
executive Thomas Muller said the priority-based budgeting report
presented by Fabian can be used by commissioners in determining 2015
funding priorities. He plans to release the proposed 2015 budget during a
news conference at 2 p.m. Aug. 28.
Seven of the nine county commissioners attended the PBB presentation.
The
consultant, which is being paid about $45,000 for the study, has given
the county an independent and objective guide that can be used to help
determine budget priorities.
“What we’ve brought to the party is
essentially the state-of-the art method for diving into the budget and determining the objectives we want to hit,” said Muller.
A
couple of commissioners expressed skepticism about the validity of some
basic county objectives around which PBB determined priorities.
The consultant ranked all programs offered by the county into four different “quartiles.”
Most of the county’s budget is spent on programs that were ranked the highest, according to figures provided by Fabian:
• In the top ranking are 318 programs, which cost a total of $206.5 million.
• In the second quartile are 329 programs costing $57 million.
• In the third are 391 programs costing $54.6 million.
• And, in the lowest quartile are 228 programs costing $22.5 million.
Fabian said programs in that fourth quartile “are the least relevant to the results you want to achieve.”
He
added: “It’s not to say these are irrelevant. They’re just less
relevant. It’s a relative process. That’s what this whole thing is
about.”
Muller said PBB was “quite impressed when they first shook
out all the numbers as to how much fell into the top quartile and the
second quartile and how little was down in the low quartiles.”
Fabian
said the majority of the county’s resources should be in the top two
priority areas, but also noted programs in the two lowest rankings
should not just all be eliminated.
He explained municipalities
that develop a pattern of annually decreasing “resource allocation to
lower priority areas in favor of resource allocation to higher priority
areas is the mark of progress in priority-based budgeting.”
Muller
said the analytical tool developed by PBB for the county “is not
designed to numerically get you an answer. It’s really a very strong
starting point in the discussion. This is designed to encourage
discussion and to focus discussion.”
After the meeting, Lisa
Scheller, chairwoman of the commissioners, said the PBB report “is going
to be a great tool for us to use to really start digging into the
programs -- to see what is important for the county to be doing, and
seeing if there are areas we should be putting more focus on as well as
areas we should be putting less focus on.”
She said the PBB report
“appears to be very thorough” and offers “plenty for us to work with
right now. It’s going to take a lot of hours of analysis. But it starts
to provide a broad framework for what is important for the county to be
doing and how our resources should be allocated.”
Although the PBB
study was not yet complete when county department heads submitted their
2015 budget needs to the administration, Muller said they were familiar
with the PBB project and believes it helped them as they were preparing
those budgets.
“I don’t think it would be fair to say it was used
to the optimum this year,” said the executive, adding PBB’s final
report will have more value to administrators in developing the 2016
budget.
Fabian also said the information he provided will have
value in shaping county budgets in future years. He explained if a
county department wants to add a new program, it can be plugged into the
model PBB created to determine its value.
County spends less to operate
The consultant said 92.5 percent of the county budget is spent on community-oriented programs offered directly to citizens.
Fabian
said 7.5 percent of Lehigh County’s budget is used for “governance,”
meaning the cost to operate the government. “Seven-and-a-half percent is
one of the lowest numbers we’ve seen.”
In other municipalities,
he said, that number is closer to 20 percent. He indicated anything
under 10 percent is considered very good.
Project underway for more than a year
“Muller called The PPB study “a fairly massive project” that has been going on for more than a year and a half.
“We
had at least 40 of our senior managers and all our row officers very
actively involved in the project from start to finish,’ he said.
The PBB project was started in January 2013 by former county executive William Hansell.
Muller indicated it faltered for a few months after Hansell resigned in May 2013 because of ill health. He died a month later.
“It was Bill’s dream to bring this to Lehigh County,” said Fabian.
Scheller noted Commissioner Vic Mazziotti has long advocated using priority-based budgeting in developing county budgets.
Fabian
said some commissioners and other county elected officials participated
in a simple exercise to determine which results were valid.
Muller
said all elected county elected officials were invited to participate
in helping to develop priorities in the PBB report, although he noted a
number of county commissioners chose not to participate.
He said county department heads and other senior staff did participate.
The
consultant has developed similar priority-based budgeting tools in more
than 70 municipalities of varying sizes across the United States.
Calling it a proven methodology, Fabian said early communities that implemented PBB’s work have seen positive results.
He
explained PBB focuses on the level of individual programs within each
county department rather than comparing departments and deciding one
department should have a higher priority than another.
Fabian said
making across-the-board budget cuts, rather than implementing
priority-based budgeting, “is somewhat arbitrary” and financial experts
warn such cuts “are a weak way out” that can detrimentally impact
municipal credit ratings and bond ratings.
Lehigh County’s 2014 budget totaled $360 million, said Muller, which includes paying down debt.
Greetings from the Center for Priority Based Budgeting-
Thanks for your interest in CPBB and for registering for our 2014 “New Wave” of Local Government Conference. It is going to be a transformative event and we’re excited to have you be part of it!
We have several conference updates and reminders regarding the program, parking and new social mixer we’ve planned so please read the rest of this e-mail carefully.
We’ve made some slight adjustments to the conference program. You can view the updated conference program here. The current conference program is also available on our conference app. Find out how to access and utilize this interactive conference resource below.
Additionally, please remember to download our “New Wave” conference mobile app. Our app has all the details on speakers, session descriptions, sponsors, exhibitors, twitter handles and other social interaction features. Once downloaded the app will automatically update (as necessary). Download our conference mobile app today!
The CPBB and our local government peers and conference sponsors ELGL are thrilled to host the “New Wave” social mixer after the first day of the conference! This will be held at Katie Mullen’s Irish Restaurant located right next door to the Sheraton conference hotel on Tuesday, August 5th from 6-8 PM.
Appetizers will be provided and a cash bar will be available. All conference participants are invited to attend. We hope you come and take advantage of the opportunity to get to know this select group of innovative local government professionals!
In case you need a reminder, the conference hotel and conference location is the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel. It is located at 1550 Court Place downtown Denver right on the 16th Street Mall. The conference is on the Majestic Level of the hotel in the Majestic Ballroom.
We want this event to be highly interactive! We’ll be live tweeting and sending messages and updates through our conference app. Please use hashtag #cpbb14 when joining us in tweeting during every session!
Finally, we could not host this event without our conference partners, sponsors, exhibitors. Please be sure to check out the following online and be sure to stop by their exhibitor booths to discover the amazing and creative ways these folks are contributing to the “New Wave” of Local Government!
Jon Johnson and Chris Fabian are pleased to share with you that the Center for Priority Based Budgeting officially opened its office on September 1, 2010, with its main objective being to “lead communities to Fiscal Health and Wellness.”
As most of you know, it was our desire from the very beginning of our partnership to create a not-for-profit environment that could support and sustain our work in not only providing advisory services to local governments across the country but also to find ways to continue our research efforts to better understand the fiscal conditions that are impacting local governments from coast to coast. Utilizing a business development technique found in the private sector, the Center was being “incubated” by another successful not-for-profit organization that also serves local governments. Graduating from the incubator in 2013, CPBB is now working with over 60 organizations who have implemented or are currently implementing the processes and tools of Fiscal Health and Priority Based Budgeting.
As before, we are striving to bring the principles of Fiscal Health and Wellness to all communities by teaching, coaching and guiding them in the development and implementation of our unique, creative and proven tools and techniques. We continue to improve upon our “Fiscal Health Diagnostic Tool”, which provides a quick assessment of any organization’s fiscal health status. We also continue to develop our “Resource Allocation Tool” which provides not only a mechanism to set target budgets based on our Priority Based Budgeting approach, but also serves as a way to depict how well any organization is aligning its resources with the programs and services that the community values. Our work has expanded to now include some interesting and successful citizen engagement opportunities with the communities we are partnering with in this work.
We have included our contact information below and hope that we can continue to reach out to those of you we have worked with in the past to further our research efforts as we continually strive to enhance the Priority Based Budgeting process as well as with the concepts of Fiscal Health and Wellness. We also hope to continue the conversation with those of you who have been following our work and share with you the stories of accomplishment and success from the organizations that have implemented Priority Based Budgeting. Please drop us a line anytime – we’re always glad to hear from you. In the meantime, please update your contact information and when you have the chance, check out our blog site to find out what we’ve been doing since our last conversation with you.
- September, 2007: Colorado 10-County Budget Consortium Annual Conference, Breckenridge, CO - "Rx for Fiscal Health - Alignment with Priorities"
- June, 2008: GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) Annual Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, FL - "Planning for Financial Sustainability"
- July, 2008: National Association of Counties Annual Conference, Kansas City, MO -"Achieving Sustainable Fiscal Health & Wellness"
- August, 2008: ICMA Audio Conference, Golden, CO - "Achieving Fiscal Health: Strategies for Dealing with Fiscal Distress in Today's Economic Downturn"
- August, 2008: Alliance for Innovations Workshop, San Mateo County, CA - "Budgeting for Priorities - Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness"
- September, 2008: GFOA Training Workshop, Sacramento, CA - "Fiscal First Aid: Achieving Financial Sustainability"
- September, 2008: Kansas GFOA Fall Conference, Overland Park, KS - "Planning for a Sustainable Financial Future"
- September, 2008: Colorado 10-County Budget Consortium Annual Conference, Beaver Creek, CO - "Budgeting for Priorities - Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness" - October, 2008: GFOA Training Workshop, Providence RI - "Best Practices in Budgeting"
- October, 2008: Alliance for Innovations Workshop, Charlottesville, VA - "Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness - Budgeting for Priorities"
- December, 2008: ICMA Audio Conference, Golden, CO -"Fiscal Distress: How to Diagnose the Cause and Identify the Right Solutions"
- January, 2009: GFOA Training Workshop, Newport Beach, CA - "Advanced Tools for Finance Officers: Long Term Financial Planning"
- April, 2009: ICMA Workshop, Belton, TX - "Rightsizing to Realities: Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- April, 2009: GFOA Training Workshop, Columbus, OH - "Best Practices in Budgeting"
- May, 2009: ICMA Workshop, Monterey, CA - "Rightsizing to Realities: Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- May, 2009: ICMA Audio Conference, Washington, DC - "The Promise of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- June, 2009: North Carolina Association of CPA's Local Government Conference, Greensboro, NC - "The Promise of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- June, 2009: North Carolina Assoc of CPA's Local Government Conference, New Bern, NC - "The Promise of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- June, 2009: GFOA Pre-Conference Workshop, Seattle, WA - "Fiscal First Aid: Budgeting Tactics for Bad Economic Times"
- June, 2009: GFOA Annual Conference, Seattle, WA - "The What's, Why's and How's Of Your Government's Fiscal Condition"
- July, 2009: IL-ICMA/IL GFOA Workshop, Naperville, IL - "Rightsizing to Realities: Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- July, 2009: GFOA Training Workshop, Denver, CO -"Fiscal First Aid: Achieving Financial Sustainability"
- September, 2009: ICMA Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec - "Managing Your Budget in Turbulent Times: An In-Dept Review of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- February, 2010: ICMA Audio Conference – “Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness in the NEW NORMAL”
- February, 2010: Virginia Local Government Association (VLGMA) / University of Virginia / Alliance for Innovation, VLGMA Conference, Charlottesville, VA – “The Principles of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)”
- April, 2010: Alliance for Innovation Audio Conference – “The Nuts and Bolts of Implementing Fiscal Health & Wellness”
- April, 2010: Presentation to Boulder Tomorrow – “Achieving R.O.I. in Government: How the City of Boulder is Using Priority Based Budgeting to Demonstrate Return on Taxpayer Dollars”
- May, 2010: ICMA Webinar – “Budgeting in the New Normal: Managing Your Budget in Turbulent Times”
- June, 2010: North Carolina Association of CPA's Local Government Conference, Greensboro, NC - "The Promise of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- June, 2010: North Carolina Assoc of CPA's Local Government Conference, New Bern, NC - "The Promise of Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
- August, 2010: Virginia Beach, Virginia Workshop – “Implementing Fiscal Health & Wellness”
- October, 2010: GFOA Audio Conference – “GFOA Best Budgeting Practices – Implementing Fiscal Health & Wellness to Achieve Financial Resiliency”
- November, 2010: ICMA Annual Conference, San Jose, CA – “Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal: How Organizations Implementing Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization) Are Surviving These Times”
- January, 2011: GFOA Training Workshop, San Diego, CA – “GFOA Best Budgeting Practices – Implementing Fiscal Health & Wellness to Achieve Long-Term Financial Health and Resiliency”
- January, 2011: GFOA Training Workshop, San Diego, CA – “Tools of Financial Resiliency: Working with Elected Officials; Analyzing Fiscal Health; Engaging Citizens in the Budgeting Process; Implementing Internal Service Funds”
(UPCOMING) March, 2011: ICMA Webinar – “Getting Ready for the Budgeting Process: How to Use Priority Based Budgeting”
(UPCOMING) April, 2011: IL-ICMA/WI-ICMA/Alliance for Innovations Workshop, - “Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)"
(UPCOMING) April, 2011: ICMA Webinar – “Getting Ready for the Budgeting Process: Using the Fiscal Health Model to Diagnose and Treat the Causes of Fiscal Distress”
(UPCOMIONG) December, 2011: Colorado Government Finance Officer’s Association (CGFOA) Winter Conference – “Achieving Fiscal Health & Wellness (Prioritization)”
