The 2013 federal government shutdown highlighted the negative consequences that can result when those tasked with designing a budget are unwilling to compromise. To ensure that your budget negotiations do not fail in the same manner, check out these Knowledge Network resources that discuss ways to achieve the appropriate balance between representing your constituencies and forging ahead with a sensible, working budget.

• “Public Involvement in Budgeting: Options for Local Officials” discusses the merits of including citizens in the budget design process and outlines five methods of encouraging citizen participation in the process.
• “Citizen-Based Budgeting” discusses the many benefits of the citizen-based method of local government budgeting.
• In response to the economic downturn that afflicted the country over the past few years, many managers needed to relearn how to respond to citizen concerns about the budget, and they shared their lessons with us.
• The responses to a 2010 question about interactive citizen-based budgeting offer some interesting ways to connect with citizens to talk about the budget.
• “A 'Budget Tour'? Absolutely!” highlights a creative approach to ensuring that budget committee members are informed and ready to work on the budget.
• “Participatory Budgeting Meets Priority Based Budgeting in Douglas County, NV” reveals a thoughtful approach to pairing community values with budget cuts in a given community.