Priority Based Budgeting may be new to the City of Greeley, but it has been around for quite some time and is gaining popularity among cities of all sizes. In fact, it has already been implemented in more than 150 communities in the U.S. and Canada.
This tool has been endorsed by some very prestigious organizations including the International City/County Manager’s Association, the Government Finance Officer’s Association and the National League of Cities. Even if you’re not familiar with those organizations, you can be assured that it has been tried and tested in towns as small as a few thousand people and cities with populations close to 1,000,000.
However, the best reason for our adoption of this budget development tool is that it is a “best practice.” Meaning that it has proven itself as a successful way to help communities allocate resources to the city government services that benefit their residents the most. In other words, it will help assure we are on the right track regardless of whether the budget is stable, increasing or decreasing.
Our local economy is doing well. So for Greeley, this is the perfect time to adopt a process that helps us understand where we should be focusing our revenue and staff resources. The process has already begun as part of the planning for the 2019 and 2020 budgets. We are optimistic that the local economy will continue its healthy pace and that Priority Based Budgeting will prove to be a valuable planning tool every year.
Roy H. Otto
City Manager