Managing Accountability Paper
Manage Accountability
Nena Davis
Public Budgeting/ACC574
December 12, 2011
Pamela Scales
Manage Accountability
Public administrators across the United States of America strive to provide its’ citizens with programs and amenities for various purposes. Legislators create and enact programs such as the Community Development Block Grant Program that give a positive impact to individuals by creating jobs and rehabilitating poverty stricken neighborhoods that not only provide a community with hope but also stimulate economic growth of the economy. Local, state, and federal governments also provide its citizens with advantages of amenities such as recreational activities, upgrading of water systems, and the maintenance and construction of roads and highways that spark growth of communities and economy of the area. The creation of programs and amenities only exist because of the agency’s management accountability of budgetary finances.
When society experiences an economic downturn, agencies are under pressure to sustain programs and to continue amenities such as new roads. This financial slump creates a decrease in funding that can alter the management accountability of budgetary finances for all levels of government. The decrease in funding forces agencies to make tough decisions to reallocate funds from one program or project to another which causes the possible loss of one program to benefit another. Such is the case with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) when $100 million in federal funding was pulled from a local county highway project and given to a 5-year project to expand an interstate highway. Many were raising questions whether or not the correct management decisions were made in this situation and if there were any other resource avenues to fund the highway expansion.
The purpose of this report is to review the MDOT budgeting system to include management accountability and
Nena Davis
Public Budgeting/ACC574
December 12, 2011
Pamela Scales
Manage Accountability
Public administrators across the United States of America strive to provide its’ citizens with programs and amenities for various purposes. Legislators create and enact programs such as the Community Development Block Grant Program that give a positive impact to individuals by creating jobs and rehabilitating poverty stricken neighborhoods that not only provide a community with hope but also stimulate economic growth of the economy. Local, state, and federal governments also provide its citizens with advantages of amenities such as recreational activities, upgrading of water systems, and the maintenance and construction of roads and highways that spark growth of communities and economy of the area. The creation of programs and amenities only exist because of the agency’s management accountability of budgetary finances.
When society experiences an economic downturn, agencies are under pressure to sustain programs and to continue amenities such as new roads. This financial slump creates a decrease in funding that can alter the management accountability of budgetary finances for all levels of government. The decrease in funding forces agencies to make tough decisions to reallocate funds from one program or project to another which causes the possible loss of one program to benefit another. Such is the case with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) when $100 million in federal funding was pulled from a local county highway project and given to a 5-year project to expand an interstate highway. Many were raising questions whether or not the correct management decisions were made in this situation and if there were any other resource avenues to fund the highway expansion.
The purpose of this report is to review the MDOT budgeting system to include management accountability and
References: Freeman, R. J., Shoulders, C. D., Allison, G. S., Patton, T. K., & Smith, G. R., Jr. (2009). NCES. (2004). Financial Accounting for local and state school systems. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/h2r2/ch_3.asp. Reh.F. (2011). Cost benefit analysis aka running the numbers. Retrieved from http://management.about.com/cs/money/a/CostBenefit.htm. Schachtel, M., Glazer, A., & Bell, M. (2002). Alternative revenue sources and structures for Baltimore city Smith, R. W., & Lynch, T. D. (2004). Public budgeting in America. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. USlegal.com. (2011). Highway trust fund law & legal definition. Retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/h/highway-trust-fund/.