Analyzing Public Budgets

Analyzing Public Budgets

• Learners will have a general understanding of how public budgets work
• Learners will understand the process for deciding public budgets
• Learners will be able to apply this knowledge to their advocacy

Lesson Objectives

National League of Cities

• City budgets are political and legal documents.
• They reveal a policymaker’s priorities and approach to governance.
• Budgets become legally binding and require public audits; they are how policymakers evaluate themselves

The Uses and Abuses of Public Budgets

Click on each stage of the cycle to learn more!

4.Budget Audit

3.Budget Execution

2.Budget Justification

1.Budget Formulation

Budget Cycle

Source: Professor Linda J. Bilmes Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University

The Stages of the Budget Cycle

The Structure of a City Budget

Source: Professor Linda J. Bilmes Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University

• Key documents: Consolidated 5-year Plan, Annual Action Plans, Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Plans (CAPER)
• Usual timeline: Spring: public comment; July: city council approval; August: Action Plans due to HUD;
• Pay attention to “full-time equivalents” (FTEs), targeting to income groups, rent affordability, overall allocations, and changes from previous years

Budgeting HUD Grants

• Key documents: Consolidated 5-year Plan, Annual Action Plans, Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Plans (CAPER)
• Usual timeline: Spring: public comment; July: city council approval; August: Action Plans due to HUD;
• Pay attention to “full-time equivalents” (FTEs), targeting to income groups, rent affordability, overall allocations, and changes from previous years

Budgeting HUD Grants

• Key documents: Consolidated 5-year Plan, Annual Action Plans, Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Plans (CAPER)
• Usual timeline: Spring: public comment; July: city council approval; August: Action Plans due to HUD;
• Pay attention to “full-time equivalents” (FTEs), targeting to income groups, rent affordability, overall allocations, and changes from previous years

Budgeting HUD Grants

• There are lots of ways to “cut” the police budget!
• Immediately cut 50 positions
• Decrease salaries
• Defund particular functions (e.g. public affairs, SWAT)
• Rearrange departments (e.g. move 911 operations)
• The total dollar allocation only tells part of the story

Example: Police Budgets

Video: What “Defund the Police” Really Means

Click on each stage of the cycle to learn more!

Budget Formulation

Budget Justification

Budget Cycle

Budget Execution

Budget Audit

Source: Professor Linda J. Bilmes Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University

Make Your Voice Heard at Every Stage

1. Figure out which parts of the budget pertain to your project
2. Identify the key Department, Program, or Activity and see how budget allocations vary over time
3. Underline unusual expenses or lines in budgets
4. Compare budgets between cities (and over previous years) to advocate for change

Wrapping Up: How Can you Apply This Technique to Your Own Advocacy?

Advocacy Pressure Point: Public Budgets

Budget execution

• Do any departments or projects seem dysfunctional?
• Use Public Information Requests
• Prevent “scope creep”
• Don’t let the city get away with deviating from their own budget!

Budget justification

• Speak at opportunities for public comment
• Are there any weird changes or discrepancies?
• How will the issues you care about be funded in the next fiscal year?

Budget formulation

• Exert public pressure, fight for your priorities
• Use op-eds, townhalls, and demonstrations
• Use inside contacts to learn about planning
• Pay attention to press releases, city council meetings, and the media

Budget audit

• It’s not too late!
• Use audit results to see how government has performed
• Hold them accountable and use failures to put pressure on next year