2. What is Priority Setting in the Budget?
“Priority setting is a process by which an entity articulates the functions or programs considered
most important to the attainment of service goals and objectives to be pursued…” Roland Calia,
Priority-Setting Models for Public Budgeting, GFOA
* Limited Resources + Unlimited Demands = something doesn’t get funded or pursued.
* The budget is the most important policy document the organization will adopt, communicating
policies, priorities, resources and uses, services, challenges, opportunities, and organizational
structure.
* Regardless of legislative, economic, or environmental constraints, we use our resources for
what matters most to us.
3. Priority Setting is always happening
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” (Rush, Freewill)
Informal Formal
Internal
External
5. Effective Priority Setting in the Budget
All Methods
* Carry forward for multiple years
* Apply equally in lean or lush times by guiding reductions and increases
* Output is publicly adopted in the budget
Formal Methods
* Defensible, i.e. consistent and defined
* Transparent; increases understanding and trust
* More and better information
6. Key components of a priority setting
program
* Content and focus
◦ Education: Context, Perspective,
◦ Communication: Incoming and Outgoing
◦ Framework
* Structure and methods
◦ Education and Communication Plans
◦ Priority Setting Model Elements
◦ Understandability and Usability (internal and external
7. Education- Definitions and Language
Participants and observers need to understand how priorities are set and for what purpose.
Explain issues, challenges, parameters, resources, and demands. Identify what outcome is
desired from the process.
TIPS
* Provide clear definitions- ensure everyone has the same glossary for terms. i.e. public safety
means…
* 3rd to 5th grade reading level makes it easier for all participants to gain a similar understanding
* Avoid advanced vocabulary and complex sentence structures to minimize misinterpretation
8. Education- Context and Perspective
* Context and Perspective:
◦ “The City spent $12 million on Police services last year”
◦ Compare to prior year
◦ Compare to other services and departments
◦ Compare to other agencies with similar demands and situation
◦ Show how much revenue was received for Police services last year
9.
10. Communications- Plan before starting
Outgoing- Providing information to priority setting participants for use during process.
◦ Multiple media: print, electronic, audio
◦ Multiple styles: narrative, pictures, charts, & graphs, language styles
◦ Frequent and repeated
◦ Consistent and comprehensive
◦ ACCURATE
Incoming- Receiving information from participants with which to compile priorities
◦ Multiple methods
◦ Multiple points in the process
◦ Ensure equal voice and opportunity to participate
◦ Acknowledge input
11. Framework
Provide a structure for priorities and goals
◦ Input or Output driven or both
◦ Service categories
◦ Recipient categories
◦ Geographic categories
◦ Stakeholder categories
◦ Goals with priorities
Provide a process framework
◦ Participants
◦ Outcomes desired/ Expectations
◦ Timeline for process and for priorities
12. Participants
Internal-
◦ Legislative Body
◦ Staff
◦ Leadership
◦ Managers
◦ Unions
◦ Staff
External
◦ Legislative Body
◦ Staff
◦ Leadership
◦ Citizens
◦ Advocate/ Special Interests
13. Framework- Indirect Priorities
Have to
◦ Legal mandates
◦ Charter/ Local
◦ State/ Federal
◦ Financial
Need to
◦ Community Reality
◦ Financial
◦ Socio-economic
◦ Health, Safety, and/or Welfare
Want to
◦ Value of community and/or leadership
14. Structure- Define the Process
Identify
Issues
Identify
Goals to
Address
Issues
Objectives
for Goals
Evaluate
Programs &
Projects
Develop
Budget
Workplans
15. Define the Process; Customize it
Identify
Issues
Identify
Goals to
Address
Issues
Objectives
for Goals
Evaluate
Programs &
Projects
Develop
Budget
Workplans
What will improve
this specific concern
or situation?
What does
improvement look
like?
What steps take us
there?
How do we know
what progress or
success looks like?
How do these steps
get taken? What
resources are needed
and what are we
willing to give up?
16. Between Framework & Structure
Priority setting is about choosing between issues and related solutions
* Identify the issues
* Prioritizing the issues
* Identifying possible solutions
* Prioritizing the solutions
18. Too much crime in our neighborhoods
How much
does each
Action Step
cost?
How is
success
defined and
measured?
Action Steps
Fewer
incidents and
opportunity
Less crime
Reduce crime
Reduce
Opportunity for
Crime
Start and support
Neighborhood
Watch
# trained
neighborhood
leaders
Increase crime
prevention
education
# of monthly
meetings and
attendees
Increase arrests to
reduce activity
Increase patrols in
neighborhoods
# of arrests by
beat patrol
Targeted Task
Force
# of arrests by
Task Force
19. Define the discussion
Prioritizing issues & prioritizing solutions
Too much crime
Reduce crime
Increase Patrols
Create Targeted Task
Force
Places for kids to
play
Create play
opportunities
Add Parks
Add activities
People need jobs
Grow more businesses
to hire people
Expand business loans
Waive development
fees
20. Evaluation- Influencing Factors
We have a list of Issues, Solutions, and Resources; NOW WHAT?
Identify the various factors that influence each issue and options including:
◦ Financial Resources- How much does it cost?
◦ Human Resources- How many people are needed to implement it?
◦ Other Resources- What other resources need to be dedicated to this?
◦ Legislative Impact- Does it require changes in local, state, or federal law, guidelines, or policies?
◦ Impact on other operations- Do other services have to be adjusted to make this happen?
◦ Educational Needs: what kind of publicity or public education will be needed to implement it
◦ Affected Parties: Has everyone to be affected been identified and, if intended, been contacted?
◦ Affected Parties: How many people, especially relative to the total possible, will be affected?
◦ Affected Parties and Alternatives: How critical is this to the affected parties’ health, safety, and wellbeing?
◦ Timeframe: How quickly will this affect stakeholders?
Identify those issues and factors that cross your mind as you evaluate your decision.
21. Evaluation- Weighting & Ratings
Think of how important each of the factors is on making your decision. Do one or two of them
make the decision, regardless of the answers to the others? Rank the factors in order of
importance to the decision. Then determine how much relative importance each factor has.
Consider the total bucket as worth 100 points, then assign each factor a certain number of
points that reflects how important it is to the discussion. This represents its weight or the
maximum value the answer to that factor can have.
For each issue and option, assign a value to each factor, based on the maximum number of
points it can have to influence the decision.
Add up all the assigned points per issue and option, and rank by total value.
The points assignment is one method for establishing weighting and ratings. Others include
Grades (A-F) and Yes/No.
22. Linking the Priorities to the Budget
Community & Organizational Goals
Department Goals
Department Work Plan
Performance Measures
23. Priorities become the Budget
Budget Work Plan
Organizational Structure; Processes; Procedures
Financial Assignments
Reporting Back
24.
25. Understandability & Usability
Consistent- similar methods are used over time; regular and routine communication updates
stakeholders.
Comprehensive- Encompasses all aspects of operations or operations & capital; can be broken
down but does not evaluate in isolation.
Accurate- Information is made available to all parties and is based on facts; errors are corrected
quickly and clearly.
Timely- Deadlines are anticipated and programmed into the process.
Simplicity- make it easy for stakeholders to understand.
26. Questions?
Melanie Purcell
mpurcell@opengov.com
mdpcell13@gmail.com
More than 150 governments in 30 states use OpenGov to access, analyze, and share financial
data. OpenGov's web-based platform empowers senior executives to see trends, drill down to
transaction-level details, and compare actual spending to the budget. It also enables
governments to share the financial data with elected officials and the public to improve
communication and build trust.
Editor's Notes
Priorities at any given level of government are heavily influenced by the priorities or policy decisions at other levels of government but inherently, these policies reflect societal priorities, even if not necessarily the different concentrations of society or the individuals.
Priority and Goal setting establish the tone and context for the budget process, ideally, and are often thought of as the kick-off point for the annual exercise.
Formal methods enhance decision making, internal or external focus through more consistent and inclusive information, structure that quiets and focuses dominating voices, and creating a defensible mechanism by virtue of having a mechanism. People are more inclined to discuss policy and goals when the numbers and structure are already established. Builds trust for more effective decisions and implementation.
To be effective and sustainable, priority setting is a program, ongoing, comprehensive, and top of mind/ pervasive.
Regardless of internal or external priority setting process, all participants need education on the issues, challenges, opportunities, and resources available. The goals is understanding with the least confusion or effort by all parties; make it easy. It is not about being patronizing or leading.
While equal weight may not be placed on input, each and every participant selected to be a part of the process should have access and venues to provide input.
Note: not all stakeholders are participants: bond holders, rating agencies, children, animals, neighboring communities, state, and federal, and non-profits
Taken from GFOA’s Priority–Setting Models for Public Budgeting
Important to note that there are in fact two processes which may overlap and can confuse participants, stakeholders, and those charged with implementing.
Example of other operations impact- Move activities from one park to another to make room for targeted audience activity. Redirect code enforcement efforts to support a moratorium on commercial citations.
Always remember the law of unintended consquences.
To make the priority setting methodology effective and assist in quality decision making, it must permeate all activities, especially the budget process. Does any given decision move forward the organization’s priorities?
adequate time is allowed for communication, identification, evaluation, implementation, revisiting.
We distrust what we don’t understand.
Is this in the best interests of the community?
Is this in the best interests of the organization?
Priorities and goal setting articulate those best interests.
