Strategically Aligning Dollars with Priorities
in Washington County, Wisconsin
"This budget is really exciting for me. It represents the beginning of some things that I've wanted to do since becoming administrator here two budgets ago: more transparently articulate the policy decisions within the budget to the public and use County priorities to make funding decisions." - County Administrator Joshua Schoemann
Washington County, WI is the first County Government in Wisconsin to implement priority based budgeting. CPBB co-founder Chris Fabian stated in March 2015, "To see Washington County take the lead in Wisconsin is a true mark of their leadership, their dedication to financial transparency and accountability to their citizens, and to optimizing their approach to allocating their precious resources to the outcomes that matter most and impact their community to the highest degree."
And now Washington County, Wisconsin has developed a reputation as best in it's  class among those PBB communities ushering in this bold evolution. In it's first year of implementation, the County successfully implemented the process, and has already undertaken a merger of it's Health Department with a neighboring County, realizing substantial savings. Regionalization of services and public-private partnership ("P3's") are among the greatest sources of opportunity for PBB communities (at the 2016 PBB Conference, the PBB data-mine demonstrated $409million in opportunities among PBB communities alone in 2016).
The County has recently released its 2017 Recommended Budget. County Administrator Joshua Schoemann states, "This budget is really exciting for me. It represents the beginning of some things that I've wanted to do since becoming administrator here two budgets ago: more transparently articulate the policy decisions within the budget to the public and use County priorities to make funding decisions."
Excerpts from Washington County, WI 2017 Proposed Budget
This budget is another excellent step toward financial sustainability for the County. In an ongoing era of tax levy freezes, the resources of our citizens, and thus our County, are limited. Therefore, if we hope to provide excellent citizen service we need to eliminate deficit spending and direct our limited resources appropriately, being less concerned about the quantity of services we provide and more concerned about the quality of those services.
As you know, we committed to a number of significant goals in 2017 including maintaining the tax rate, reducing the need to access fund balance (County reserves) to balance the budget, replenishing the health insurance fun and funding a 3rd consecutive pay plan adjustment for our employees. I am pleased to report that not only did we accomplish all of these goals but we took a major step forward in transitioning our budgeting to align dollars with priorities through the use of priority based budgeting. We developed, and utilized for the first time, our "fiscal health tool" during the budget process to demonstrate the impact of 2017 budget decisions on the long term fiscal health of Washington County.
The actions taken in the 2017 Budget represent a continuation of a plan for fiscal sustainability and the County's commitment to delivering high quality services, while keeping taxes low.
IMPLEMENT PRIORITY BASED BUDGETING
In addition to working towards our budget goals, Washington County faces a significant challenge each year as our operational costs go up roughly $1.5 million while the State imposed property tax levy caps limit the amount of possible new tax collections. This means that each year we start the process seeking this amount just to cover the same slate of items from the prior year. Last year, we committed to changing our strategy in Washington County by avoiding across the board cuts and pay freezes for employees in the face of increasing health insurance costs. We have spent the past two years implementing priority based budgeting including identification and cost analysis of roughly 1300 programs in order of priority from lowest to highest. The below charts demonstrate the County's 2016 approved spending toward our community priorities. These priorities are fully outlined in the Strategic Results portion of this budget document.
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CPBB + ELGL Webinar Series
Applied PBB: P3's!
"While politicians easily offer policy prescriptions, they often fail to ask how they will be paid for." - Mark Funkhouser, Publisher of Governing Magazine
Governing recently published a P3 supplement as part of their Guide to Financial Literacy series. This publication is called
Putting Citizens First with an Innovative Approach to P3's. In it they state, "
Governments continue to find new ways to leverage private sector money, expertise, innovation and flexibility. This is especially true for states and localities, which in the past 20 years have rapidly expanded the scope, scale and stakes of that leverage. This practice of deeper private sector involvement in public services is broadly known as public-private partnerships, or P3s."
To Share, or Not to Share
But where do you look to find these partnership opportunities? What type of criteria would help you figure out where a partnership could exist?
Among the success stories you can read about from
ICMA and
Alliance for Innovation case
 studies, you'll find out about
SAFEbuilt and the way they've revolutionized the entire approach to a Building Department through shared services. For some services, there are proven successes that can provide a ready made blue-print for how to implement them in your community.
In our work in
Priority Based Budgeting,
one of the greatest outcomes of the work is the ability to shed light on where to find opportunities for shared services. What if a program was of the highest priority for your citizens, and you found out you were one of several providers of this service in your community? Perhaps a partnership would be an incredible opportunity to produce efficiency in the provision of that program. On the other hand, what if you found a lower priority program for which there were other service providers? Maybe the best approach there would be to consolidate services or even allow the other service provider to take on the program entirely.
In the
City of Cincinnati, Ohio, City Council identified opportunities for partnership using PBB as a policy priority. In
Douglas County, Nevada, the Board of County Commissioners did the same. In our story from the
City of Fort Collins, CO, about the Rocky Mountain Innosphere (RMI), the City's share of funding to support RMI scored well in the PBB process - it was a high priority. However, using the filters of the PBB Model, it was clear that this was a program that others could offer and were offering in the form of business support (in other words, the City need not be the only player in providing this service), that the City wasn't mandated to do, and was unlikely to pay for itself.
Through the lens of PBB, this points precisely in the direction of a partnership. The role of government, even in a high-priority program, is not always to be the direct service provider; it can be a key partner!
Priority Based Budgeting and Shared Services
Central to PBB is the idea that
all local government organizations can determine the role they're suited to serve best within a community, and amongst all potential service providers within a region - identifying the overlap, the potential for partnerships, consolidated services, and spinning off of services between city, county, school district, non-profit and private sector organizations.
The end goal is nothing short of the most efficient use of a community's resources as a whole, to achieve the results of a region - it's "bang for the buck" for the provision of public services.
In
Priority Based Budgeting we're attempting to provide a comprehensive review of the entire organization, identifying every program offered, identifying the costs of every program offered, evaluating the relevance of every program offered on the basis of the community's priorities, and ultimately guiding elected and appointed officials to the policy questions they can answer with the information gained from the Priority Based Budgeting process, such as:
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What is the local government uniquely qualified to provide, offering the maximum benefit to citizens for the tax dollars they pay?
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What programs are most appropriate to fund by establishing or increasing user-fees?
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What programs are most appropriate for establishing partnerships with other community service providers?
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What services might the local government consider "getting out of the business" of providing?
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Where are there apparent overlaps and redundancies in a community because several entities are providing similar services?
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Where is the local government potentially competing against private businesses within its own community?
To ultimately see a new way of determining which services our local government is best suited to provide-services that have the greatest impact for the resources within the community's means.
Untapped Potential
According to the State Department, approximately 1.5 million non-governmental organizations (NGO's) operate in the United States. There are 87,453 units of local government as recognized by the US Census. Local government no longer needs to be everything to everybody. We heard Bill Clinton give a speech recently where he said the single thing he'd love to "do-over" from his Presidency would be to understand all of the NGO's and non-profits out there, what they're doing, and how government could partner better. It's more efficient, there's less duplication, and we must find the best providers of services who have the greatest chance of achieving great outcomes. We feel the same thing about local government.
Some of the best things taking place in a community are coming about from partnerships, where local government is the leader, the facilitator and often times a key partner, but not always necessarily the only possible service provider.
Public Private Partnerships (or P3's) are becoming an incredibly exciting opportunity area for the future of local government and our communities. Why? Because through partnerships, local governments are able to tap into additional resources, bringing other service providers into the same mission we strive to achieve, almost as if adding new staff for no new money (and often times, while reducing costs). It's as if government has increased it's size (through the collaborations created in such partnerships), but it will not have increased in size. Instead it will have leveraged these partners to increase the overall impact! It's a truly remarkable solution.
The good news is that government "Doesn't Have To" be in the same businesses it has been in throughout history, providing these same services - there are many many other service providers who are working on the same societal objectives of safer communities, healthier people, a more thriving economy, etc. Government must realize who these players are, and leverage the force of their efforts - thereby reducing redundancies within community, maximizing key partnerships with these services providers, and ultimately optimizing the resources that a community has from all of it's service providers.
The trick to the P3 solution, is three-fold:
1.)
What: what services make for ideal P3's in your community? Not every community is the same, and therefore we need a methodology to discover what services are ripe with opportunity for partnership.
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Who: who are the other potential partners in your community, with whom you can share services, regionalize shared services and potentially consolidate services with?
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How: finally, how do we begin to envision a path to execution and implementation of a P3 opportunity?
This webinar series will serve to provide you with this 3-fold solution, via the methodology of Priority Based Budgeting, and the tools that are leading today's PBB communities to discover P3 opportunities, and bring them to life.
The #P3 Webinar SeriesThe intent of this webinar series is to provide concepts and opportunities revolving around partnerships, guide local government leaders to start to understand where these opportunities exist, and highlight both Public-Private-Partnerships as well as Public-Public-Partnerships.
The three individual webinars include:
I. Intro: November 15, 2016 from Noon to 1 PM EST
What are partnerships and how PBB leads to unveiling opportunities around partnerships
II. Public/Private Partnerships: December 13, 2016 from Noon to 1 PM EST
CPBB to co-present with leading public-private local government provider
Safebuilt
III. Public/Public Partnerships: Date in January 2017 TBD
CPBB to co-present with City of Englewood City Manager toprovide a case study of how City of Englewood merged their Fire Department with a neighboring jurisdiction
Register today!
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City of Kenmore, WA Officials Find the Fun
in 2017-2018 Priority Based Budget
"Our major theme of the next two-year budget is 'Where's the fun?'" The City of Kenmore, Washington was the second organization to implement PBB, along with the
City of Bainbridge Island, and both have been practitioners since 2013.
Where Kenmore particularly stands out, is in their commitment to apply PBB not only to their ongoing operations, but to their capital projects as well. The evolution of PBB to incorporate the rigorous evaluation of one-time initiatives and capital projects relative to their benefit to the community has been a recent development; led by cities like Kenmore, WA, South Jordan, UT and Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada.
Capital project PBB is a completely practical and rational approach to long-term CIP planning.
The
City of Kenmore, and the City of Bainbridge Island are not only pioneers in Priority Based Budgeting, but also the launch of OnlinePBB (where Kenmore incorporated their capital project prioritization).
The Bothell - Kenmore Reporter recently published an article written by Catherine Krummey with a focus on City of Kenmore budget development (
City of Kenmore officials find the fun in 2017-2018 budget). This piece is reprinted in full below.
City of Kenmore Officials Find the Fun in 2017-18 Priority Based BudgetCity Manager Rob Karlinsey, Finance Director Joanne Gregory and other city staff members presented the 2017-18 biennial budget to the Kenmore City Council at the Oct. 24 meeting.
The city used a priority-based budgeting process to develop the budget, identifying the priorities through looking at the council's goals for Kenmore and other policies such as the 20-Year Vision Statement and the Target Zero resolution for pedestrian and bicycle safety.
"The budget builds on our pedestrian and bicycle safety momentum," Karlinsey said.
He also cited economic development as a top priority for the city with the goal of expanding employment and making the city more vibrant. Capitalizing on that vibrancy through events, art projects, recreation opportunities and volunteerism also is important to Karlinsey.
"Our major theme of the next two-year budget is 'Where's the fun?'" he said.
The total proposed budget for the 2017-18 biennium is $55.9 million. Within that figure, $23.4 million is dedicated to the general fund, $9.4 million will go to the transportation capital fund, $4.7 million will go to surface water management and $4.5 million will go to the park capital fund.
Capital Improvement Program
At the Oct. 24 meeting, the council also unanimously approved the 2017-22 Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which includes funding for various parks, transportation and surface water projects. Nine planned park projects will be funded for a total of $11.2 million, 10 transportation projects will be funded for a total of $61.2 million, and seven surface water projects will be funded for a total of $4.7 million.
For the 2017-18 biennium, $4.5 million will be spent on parks, $12.3 million on transportation and $3.5 million on surface water as part of the CIP.
Funding from the proposed Walkways and Waterways levy on the Nov. 8 ballot affects five of the CIP projects, and Gregory said changes would be made if the levy fails. "We would go back to the drawing board on those projects ... and create a new plan, amend the CIP," Gregory said.
What's next
The 2017-18 budget will be up for discussion again at the council's Nov. 7 meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Kenmore City Hall.
The full
proposed 2017-18 biennial budget and
the CIP can be found online through the city's finance department at
www.kenmore.gov/financeadministration.
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Make Your Budget Meaningful
to the People that Matter!
"It's much easier to engage residents when talking about parks, snow removal, or economic development than it is when talking about Enterprise Funds and Intergovernmental Transfers.
Slate Communications has been a CPBB partner for many years now. They are a creative marketing and public relations organization that specialize in connecting your local government organization to your community. And they do incredible work!
This month we invited Slate CEO Kim Newcomer to contribute an article. We found this extremely valuable and hope you will too! Thank you Kim and Team Slate!
Make your Budget Meaningful to the People that Matter
Have you ever heard anyone exclaim, "Yes! It's budget season!" No? Me neither. So how do you  engage a community in a process that is often complex, occasionally boring, and extraordinarily important?
It's About the Services Provided
The first thing your community needs to understand is that a budget is not about numbers. It's about the services a government provides. The numbers are simply the mechanism to fund those services. A budget is a statement of priorities. It's a plan for accomplishing community goals. Shift the conversation to what you can accomplish with this budget, not the budget itself.
Trust me, it's much easier to engage residents when talking about parks, snow removal, or economic development than it is when talking about Enterprise Funds and Intergovernmental Transfers.
Simplify But Don't Condescend
The budgets of local governments are complex. But in order to gather informed feedback, your community needs to have an understanding of this complexity. Creating a foundation of knowledge about where the money comes from and how it's currently spent provides context for quality discussions about priorities. You're goal is to simplify, but not to speak down to your residents. Use language that's free from jargon and acronyms. Better yet, limit the narrative and use graphics to tell the story.
Set the Tone: Be Open and Honest
If we're honest, there are some things that are up for discussion and some that are not. Be transparent about where input will be used and what is already predetermined. In all your materials and communication, set the right tone. Help residents understand that budgets are an exercise in prioritization, choices and trade-offs.
Launch the Tools
Now it's time to launch the tools to garner feedback. Most of us have been through this a few times and know that there are some tools that are no-brainers. For example, you'll want to create a specific web page on your site that outlines the basics of the budget using the guidelines above.
There are also some really interesting and innovative tools that can take your engagement to another level.
Online Budget Simulator:
Balancing Act provides an easy way for residents to learn about budgets and choices. It allows participants to try allocating funds- expressing their priorities and preferences - but also requires them to balance spending and revenue.
Online Forums
: Peak Democracy provides an online Open Town Hall, which is an online civic engagement platform. Open Town Hall allows governments to maintain control of the public engagement process, focus on feedback from constituents, keep the dialogue civil and legal.
In Person Tools:
If your budgeting process includes staff committees, consider adding a citizen representative to those teams. An outside perspective is truly valuable; questions often surface that will force you think differently about how and why you provide services.
Budget Engagement Campaigns
: Pulling it all together - education, communication, engagement - in a way that makes sense for your residents is a critical and often overlooked component. Slate Communications specializes in creating comprehensive campaigns that translate complex budgets into understandable communication and leverage the feedback tools that are most suited to your community.
Here at Slate we believe that informed and engaged residents make for better communities. Following this approach to engaging residents in your budgeting process will build understanding and interaction with your community - and ultimately make it a better place.
Slate Communications is an award-winning marketing and public relations company that connects your organization to your community. Slate strives to be the go-to communications team for cities, counties and communities across the country. Whether creating a community brand, marketing a service, or simply keeping your residents informed, Slate can help.
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The Center for Priority Based Budgeting
ON... THE.... MOVE.....
Implementing Innovative Local Government Solutions Coast to Coast!
November
The Town of Beaumont, Alberta, Canada has launched their OnlinePBB and begins to use their PBB data live in the midst of their budget process. Congratulations Beaumont, who joins Strathcona County, the City of Edmonton, the City of Lethbridge and St. Albert as the Province's leading implementers.
November 17 - 18, 2016 - Colorado GFOA Annual Conference
The Center for Priority Based Budgeting will present at the Colorado Government Finance Officer's Association's (CGFOA's) Annual Conference in Grand Junction, Colorado.
December
Clark County, Washington becomes the fourth organization in the State of Washington to launch Priority Based Budgeting, joining the City of Bainbridge Island, the City of Kenmore, and Maple Valley.
The City of Tualatin, Oregon launches their Online Fiscal Health Model, becoming the second city in Oregon (the City of Springfield was first) to roll out live, dynamic fiscal modeling and scenario planning.
The City of Humboldt, Saskatchewan completes and launches their Online Fiscal Health model, accompanying OnlinePBB to guide resource reallocation decision-making. Humboldt is the leader in the Province of Saskatchewan.
Both Fruita, Colorado and Pueblo West, CO are expected to complete their implementation of Program Budgeting, a GFOA Best Practice, and a vital, central component of Priority Based Budgeting. Both Fruita and Pueblo West are among the communities supported by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA's) "Fiscal Health Initiative" - building capacity in local government, through the tools of Program Budgeting and Priority Based Budgeting.
January
The City of Rapid City, South Dakota is expected to complete their implementation of Priority Based Budgeting, becoming the first local government in the State of South Dakota to bring PBB to fulfillment in their community.
Lake Havasu City, Arizona is anticipated to complete their Priority Based Budgeting implementation, joining the City of Chandler, the City of Goodyear, and the Town of Queen Creek as Arizona's leading PBB communities.
The Town of Parker, Colorado will aim to complete their implementation of Priority Based Budgeting, joining the cities of Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont, Fruita, Pueblo West, Clear Creek County, Jefferson County and the Mountain View Fire Protection District as the State's leading implementers of PBB.
The City of South Bend, Indiana will complete their implementation of Priority Based Budgeting, becoming the first in the State of Indiana to complete PBB.
The City of Joplin, Missouri aims to complete their implementation of Fiscal Health and Priority Based Budgeting, joining the City of Branson as the State's leading implementers of Priority Based Budgeting.
Marathon County, Wisconsin will push towards completion of Priority Based Budgeting. The County will join Washington County and the Town of Janesville as the leading PBB implementers in the State of Wisconsin.
Cobb County, Georgia is anticipated to complete their implementation of Priority Based Budgeting, joining the City of Roswell as the State's leading implementers of PBB.
Welcome to OnlinePBB to the Town of Beaumont, Alberta, the City of Billings, Montana, and the City of Goodyear, Arizona.
Continued success in the midst of PBB implementation to the City of Toledo, Ohio, the Town of Bourne, Massachusetts, Finney County, Kansas, and Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
The speakers:
- Jon Johnson, co-founder, Center for Priority Based Budgeting
- Chris Fabian, co-founder, Center for Priority Based Budgeting
- Kathie Novak, former elected official, 2009 president of the National League of Cities and Senior Adviser, Center for Priority Based Budgeting
Please
Contact Us
if you'd like to join any of these exciting upcoming presentations or to schedule a free webinar and identify the best CPBB service option(s) to meet your organization's particular needs.
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Using a Unique Lens to Focus Community Resources on Results.
The Center for Priority Based Budgeting™ (CPBB), a Denver, Colorado-based results focused organization established in 2010, provides technical and advisory services to assist local governments, school districts, educational institutions, special districts and other non-profit agencies in the achievement of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting. This creative and unique process, developed by CPBB, enables communities to reassess their priorities in order to make sound, long-term funding decisions. CPBB has already led over 100+ communities through this comprehensive body of work. Learn More
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