Budget Critique Under Gfoa Guidlines
Critique of the City of Campbell, California Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget
Matthew Morton
University of South Dakota
Perhaps no other function of government is more important than the budget process and the resulting budget document. According to the Government Finance Officers Association [GFOA], (1998) “A good budget process is far more than the preparation of a legal document that appropriates funds for a series of line items. Good budgeting is a broadly defined process that has political, managerial, planning, communication and financial dimensions”. The budget document needs to be more than an accounting statement that reconciles revenues and expenditures. A good budget document serves to ensure that government is efficiently using the scarce resources it possesses and in turn delivering the goods and services needed by the public. The budget document must also be “strategic in nature, encompassing a multi-year financial and operating plan that allocates resources on the basis of identified goals” (GFAO 1998). In short, a good budget document and budget process translate an organizations policies, plans and political commitments into an actionable plan whose performance can be tracked against stated objectives to measure overall operational efficiency and organizational success.
In order for a successful budget document to be written it is of paramount importance to first recognize and understand the features of a good budget document. The City of Campbell, California has won the GFOA Distinguished Budget Award for eighteen consecutive years. According to the GFOA, in order to receive the Distinguished Budget Award “the published budget document must excel in the following four areas; first the budget must serve as a policy document, second the budget must serve as a financial plan, third the budget must serve as a communication device, and finally the budget must serve as an operations guide” (Takahashi, 2011, p. xviii). It is within the broad
Matthew Morton
University of South Dakota
Perhaps no other function of government is more important than the budget process and the resulting budget document. According to the Government Finance Officers Association [GFOA], (1998) “A good budget process is far more than the preparation of a legal document that appropriates funds for a series of line items. Good budgeting is a broadly defined process that has political, managerial, planning, communication and financial dimensions”. The budget document needs to be more than an accounting statement that reconciles revenues and expenditures. A good budget document serves to ensure that government is efficiently using the scarce resources it possesses and in turn delivering the goods and services needed by the public. The budget document must also be “strategic in nature, encompassing a multi-year financial and operating plan that allocates resources on the basis of identified goals” (GFAO 1998). In short, a good budget document and budget process translate an organizations policies, plans and political commitments into an actionable plan whose performance can be tracked against stated objectives to measure overall operational efficiency and organizational success.
In order for a successful budget document to be written it is of paramount importance to first recognize and understand the features of a good budget document. The City of Campbell, California has won the GFOA Distinguished Budget Award for eighteen consecutive years. According to the GFOA, in order to receive the Distinguished Budget Award “the published budget document must excel in the following four areas; first the budget must serve as a policy document, second the budget must serve as a financial plan, third the budget must serve as a communication device, and finally the budget must serve as an operations guide” (Takahashi, 2011, p. xviii). It is within the broad