Professional Documents
Culture Documents
James Kidd
The city of Brownwood, Texas understands that the most important function of the
shown through the citys budgeting process. The process will include the reasons for the
recommendations and decisions made while preparing the budget. Both estimates of revenue and
anticipated expenditures by the participating members will ensure the budget is prepared in a
responsible manner.
There are several persons that provide input in the budgetary process. Initially the
department heads are involved, which include the Brownwood Police Departments Chief of
Police Terry Nichols. Also included is my contact, Assistant Chief of Police James Fuller, who is
responsible for the budgetary duties for our agency. Other players in the budgeting game are
the City Manager, Emily Crawford, Finance Director, Walter Middleton, the city council
Many local governments begin their fiscal year in January, July, September, and October
(Menifield 2013). The City of Brownwood corresponds with the federal fiscal year beginning
There must be an acceptable length of time to conduct adequate research, data analysis,
and input among all the participants, before the budget can be approved. The previous budget is
constantly evaluated during the first 7 months from October 1st 2016 to late April 2017. This
planning criteria allow a portion of the previous years budget to be completed in order to have a
more accurate straight-line projection. Between May 2017 to the end of September 2017
department heads must complete budget worksheets and meetings with the finance director, city
council members, department heads, and public hearings must be conducted. Then final
The City of Brownwood (Texas), utilizes a line-item budget, rather than program or
performance budgeting. Charles Menifield suggests that, Line-item budgets are probably the
easiest of the three types to prepare (2013). An advantage of a line-item budget could be that
this system imposes the most control, (Rabin J. & Steinhauer, M 1988) this could also be a
disadvantage due to the control toward the input to the detriment of managing towards results,
(Swanson, C., Territo, L & Taylor, R. 2017). Other advantages included in a line-item budget is
that it is input oriented, easy to administer and understand, and incremental changes mean that
the budget will not be grossly inadequate, (Swanson, C., Territo, L & Taylor, R. 2017).
I observed several pros in the citys budgeting process beginning with the budgeting
model. The city utilizes a hybrid between line-item and program budgeting. The city incorporates
some elements of program budgeting in Parks & Recreation and Community Facilities. In those
two departments separate mini-budgets for different programs which include the aquatic center,
sports complex, and parks, with the facilities being the coliseum and civic center. I support the
hybrid model as I believe the line-item model is incremental and can be attractive to some as the
model is simple and transparent, but can lead to replicating over or under allocation of resources.
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The program budget presents useful information on service delivery and measure outcomes,
performance indicators. Using program budgeting specifically for parks and community facilities
The budget cycle appeared to be acceptable as the time allowed for research and the
acquisition of valid data. Firm policies are in place, allowing the best chance for efficiency and
effectiveness. The department heads and finance director advised that they agree with the time
The process allows the involvement of key personnel that are expected to defend their
portion of the budget. Workshops are provided to department heads and worksheets provided.
There are several meetings that involve the department heads and allows them to defend and
justify their requested budget. Chief Nichols is a new chief so he is basically using the
honeymoon phase in an attempt to receive requested funds. He is anticipating the city manager
and council members that have recently hired him to want him to succeed and show him that he
made the right choice in applying to the city. Fortunately, he has also earned a Masters in Police
Administration from Texas State University and has the knowledge to concentrate on the
numbers or budgetary facts. He will be using a political and technical budget strategy.
Some of the cons that I have observed in the process is that there is very little training
provided to the council members. Councilmembers are politicians and may say things during
their campaign that are not financial facts intentionally or due to the lack of knowledge. Our city
council is mostly business people that do have a background in finances, but there are a couple
that are extremely weak in that area. Besides a 1 hour Budgeting 101 class that the city provides,
there will need to a more substantial investment in educating and training the council.
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are very few citizens that, run for election. The finance director could provide financial and
budget training during their campaign so that the elected official will have an understanding of
the facts, then continue the training as early as possible in their term.
outlining dates, times, goals and meetings and providing an organized framework to prepare,
approve, implement and evaluate the budget. Citizen participation is extremely important and
should be valued. In some states, there are several provisions for both informing citizens and
seeking input from the public. The finance director files a copy of the proposed budget with the
clerk who must ensure that any interested citizen can inspect the budget. The clerk must publish
notice that the budget is available for citizen review, and make it available to all news media in
the county. Communicating in this way is passive. It may get information out, but does not
technology and social media. The city should actively reach out to community members in
numerous forms of social media in order to gain participation. Educate the community on the
The city finance team must continually be aware of the importance in maintaining a long-
range perspective. We are experiencing a shortfall this budget year. The forecasting on what
Charles Menifield describes as One of the largest sources of income in a state is the sales tax
(2013). The city cited that consumer spending is down due to online shopping. If the city raises
sales tax, that will push more consumers to buy online. There are several forecasting models to
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choose from. Forecasters should completely understand the revenue source, and ensure that the
time series analysis may not be the best tool in this situation as the online sales are increasing at
an alarming rate which may be difficult to estimate. The Status Quo Model would also be
difficult. Extrapolation Model may be a model to consider. The chosen model and explanation
The City of Brownwood utilizes several sub-systems in the budgeting process. These
systems include input, preparation, output, and feedback. The budget process operating
environment allows for a sound bases for decisions and provides acceptable results.
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References:
Menifield, C. (2013). The Basics of Public Budgeting and Financial Management: A Handbook
for Academics and Practitioners (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Rabin, J. & Steinhauer, M. B. (1988) Handbook on human services administration. New York:M.
Dekker. p. 88
Recommended Budget Practices: A Framework for Improved State and Local Government
Budgeting. (1998, January 01). Retrieved April 12, 2017, from http://gfoa.org/services/nacslb
Swanson, C. R., Territo, L., & Taylor, R.W. (2017). Police Administration: structures,
processes,and behaviors. Boston: Pearson Education.
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[Planning criteria for beginning budget process have at least 7 months (through the
end of April, 2017 of the budget year completed for more accurate straight-line
projections. Distribute late enough in May to have at least one check run for April
transactions.]
[Planning criteria for pre-budget process have a meeting with the Mayor and Council
in mid-April to discuss big picture, policy issues to provide staff with direction on the
upcoming budget. Schedule in early May if Council elections occur during the year.]
[Planning criteria for turning in budget worksheets allow DHs at least four weeks to
complete paperwork for their budget requests.]
[Planning criteria for budget meetings with DHs (1) plan on having meetings over
three or four days; (2) schedule around City Council meetings to avoid having these
meetings during the same week as a Council meeting if possible; (3) leave sufficient
time (at least 3 weeks) before Council workshops for administrative balancing of the
budget.]
[Planning criteria on workshops (1) schedule around City Council meetings to avoid
holding a workshop on the same day as a Council meeting if possible; (2) plan on one
day for the workshop, but include an additional day if necessary; (3) leave enough time
between workshops and public hearings to meet requirements of TIT, LGC and charter.]
[Planning criteria on additional workshop may be necessary because the BCAD does
not prepare the effective tax rate and rollback rate until early-August. Also, the BCWID
may not have their water rate available until early-August. We will use estimates for
planning the budget, but if the actual amounts are materially different, we may need
another workshop to reconcile the numbers.]
[Planning criteria on budget public hearing schedule after early-August so we will have
final numbers for effective tax rate, rollback rate and the BCWID water rate.]
[Planning criteria for tax public hearings, adoption of budget and passing ordinances
(1) schedule on regular City Council meeting dates as much as possible; (2) schedule
around all publication and time deadlines set in TIT, LCG and charter. First PH must be
at least 7 days after publication of notice, which cannot be until after the August 23
meeting.]
* If tax public hearings are not necessary, we will adopt the budget and approve the tax,
utility and fee ordinances on 1st reading during the September 8 meeting. In that event,
no special called meetings will be necessary.