The City of Decatur, Georgia transformed its budgeting process beginning with the fiscal year 2007-2008 budget by replacing its traditional and linear process with a process that is creative, inclusive, consensus-based and easier for citizens to understand. In short, this collaborative budgeting process shifted decision-making from the City Manager and individual department heads to the City’s management team and, in turn, shifted the focus of the process from individual departments to the city organization as a whole.

This document was submitted to the Alliance for Innovation for consideration for a 2010 Innovation Award.