By Robert L. Bland

The current financial crisis has riveted the public’s attention on budget deliberations, making communications on budget matters especially important to the public’s understanding of the outcome of that process. Will taxes be increased? Will employees be furloughed or positions eliminated? Will vacancies remain unfilled? Will public facilities be closed or hours reduced?  This recession has elevated public angst for the resolution to these issues.

The budget process is the one public forum where most of the voices in a community have an opportunity to be heard. In our media-saturated society, some voices assume that the louder they shout, the better their chances of getting their way. The current economic crisis has greatly complicated the manager’s task of proposing a balanced budget that takes into consideration the political constraints advocated by these competing community interests. The longer this recovery drags on, the more difficult the balancing task becomes. With each budget cycle, the options for finding that elusive balance between revenues and expenditures become politically more painful. 

Not only is the city or county manager the point person on budget deliberations, but that manager is also the primary communicator to the community on budget matters. In council-manager governments, the manager’s voice stands out from all others for its authoritativeness and credibility. How does the manager effectively communicate budget matters to the community? 

Effective communication begins at the outset of the budget process with agreed upon policies to guide deliberations (P), insisting on accurate information (A), and ensuring timely progression of budget deliberations (T) -- PAT for short. An investment in these three elements at the outset of the budget process facilitates effective communication of those results at the conclusion of the process.

Conflict is inherent in the budget process, and tough economic times only intensify those conflicts. Budget policies provide the manager with the formal tools to manage that conflict by establishing the boundaries for deliberations. Policies approved by the council provide a standard of budgetary performance for deliberations on the operating budget, revenues, budget implementation, and debt. The policy should specify how citizens and other stakeholders are informed of budget decisions. Currently, this is done by posting the operating budget (and capital budget, if separate) on the local government's website.

Budget accuracy can find itself at odds with political expedi­ency. Public administrators' preoccupation with budget realities often clashes with politicians' attention to image. Thus, budget making involves a duel between a technical concern that budget numbers be accurate and a political concern that the budget picture be positive. In the case of revenue forecasts, budget offices generally provide conservative estimates, while legislators pressure forecasters to raise their estimates in order to ease the task of balancing the budget. In terms of communications with citizens, managers are best served by accurately estimating the expected budget deficit as early as possible.  As budget deliberations progress, an accurate estimate of the deficit elevates the reputation of the budget office, especially when competing scenarios for resolving the deficit are offered. Unfortunately, political spinning and manipulation of budget information has left many skeptical of what, and who, to believe. The city or county manager provides the key to ensuring the integrity of the information that is produced and disseminated throughout deliberations on the budget.   

The third component of effective communication is ensuring the timely progression of the budget process. This involves publishing a calendar identifying deadlines for completing tasks and the individuals responsible for meeting those deadlines. Timeliness means providing department heads with the instructions they need to make decisions and prepare their budget requests. Key to these deliberations is the timely update of revenue forecasts provided by the budget office. The manager is responsible for submitting an executive budget that can provide a framework of discussion by the council. Ultimate responsibility for the timely adoption of an appropriation ordinance rests with the council. Even in the worst of economic times, timely completion of this complex process conveys a message of accountability and administrative discipline to citizens. 

Budget preparation and adoption is a conflict-ridden process in the best of times. The current economic crisis has heightened public attention on budget deliberations and elevated the role of managers as the hub of communications in budget deliberations. Effective communication on budget choices hinges on having in place policies to guide those deliberations, an insistence by the manager on accurate information on which deliberations are based – particularly estimates of expected budget deficits, and due diligence in the timely dissemination of information, both internally and externally.

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Bob Bland is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas and is the author of A Budgeting Guide for Local Government, 2nd edition (ICMA, 2007).