The latest news, resources, and stories to help cities and counties engage their residents to address local budget-related issues.

The California Budget Challenge

The California Budget Challenge (www.budgetchallenge.org) is an example of an online tool that explains a budget challenge (in this case at the California state level); presents alternative choices to increase, maintain or reduce spending in various areas; and asks viewers to use their choices to balance the state budget. This approach may be of interest to local officials seeking to develop similar online tools for their cities or counties.

Community Forum Identifies Budget Priorities in the City of Bell

On Saturday, January 21st, 2012, the City of Bell convened a historic bi-lingual Community Forum that brought more than forty residents together to deliberate and to offer guidance to local officials on goals and budget priorities for the 2012-13 fiscal year.  This process is one of several initiatives of the new Bell City Council to restore transparent, community-focused government to Bell.

Emerging Issues: A Unique Time in Municipal Finance: Not for Hunkering Down

“Emerging Issues” is the title of a monthly column by National League of Cities staff member Bill Barnes in Nation’s Cities Weekly newspaper. The columns focus on issues and topics — beyond or beneath the day-to-day news — that affect municipal governments and regions and the people who live in them.

Monterey Residents Help City Set Priorities for 2011-2012 Budget

In 2010, the City of Monterey engaged staff and residents in a priority-based budgeting process to determine how to best address reduced revenues and a five million dollar budget gap. Rather than make across the board cuts, the city brought in experienced consultants to help them engage staff and residents in transparently crafting a budget linked to results and values most important to the community.

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, speakers included Patricia Martel, City Manager, City of Daly City; Tim O’Donnell, City Manager, City of Brea; and Lorie Tinfow, Assistant City Manager, City of Walnut Creek.

View a video of the session.

Institute publication available, A Local Official’s Guide to Public Engagement in Budgeting

This guide draws on examples of public engagement in city and county budgeting throughout California and describes six general approaches that local agencies use to involve residents in the budget process.

Williamsburg, VA Launches Online Public Forum for 2011 Budget

The Williamsburg Open Forum is an online program to solicit citizen input and feedback on the City’s FY 2010 Budget.

The People Can Make Hard Budget Decisions

James Fishkin, a Stanford professor and author, posted a blog on February 8, 2010 about Michigan’s efforts to use public engagement in dealing with big budget deficits. He describes their use of a Deliberative Poll to make hard choice decisions.

Walnut Creek uses Community Dialogues to Inform Difficult Budget Decisions

The economic downturn and state take-aways have forced local officials in many cities to cut staff and programs in order to balance their budgets. Even cities with a relatively well-off population are facing difficult choices due to falling revenues. In the eastern San Francisco bay area city of Walnut Creek, as in many other cities around the state, local officials faced the unpleasant task of cutting programs in 2009 due to budget shortfalls, and the more unpleasant task of explaining this to the public. Building on an ongoing tradition of collaboration with residents and community building programs, city staff and officials worked with consultants and adopted a multi-stage public engagement Fiscal Health and Wellness prioritization process to educate and gather informed input from hundreds of residents. Information gathered in this process, dubbed “Community Conversation on Balancing for the Future,” will help city officials create a budget that reflects the values and priorities of the community.

Faced with Declining Revenues, Daly City Engages Residents to Identify Community Values and Priorities

Faced with difficult decisions of how to develop a balanced budget, the City of Daly City sought to educate and involve residents through four public forums designed to identify community values and priorities that would help determine funding levels for city programs and services.

Collaborative Leadership: Civic Engagement Inside the Organization

View the PowerPoint presentation, Collaborative Leadership: Civic Engagement Inside the Organization, by Tim O’Donnell, City Manager of the City of Brea. This PowerPoint was presented as part of the Institute’s session, Engaging the Public Successfully- From Budgeting to Climate Change, at the League of California Cities City Managers Department Meeting, on February 4, 2010.