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Why is the municipal budgeting process so ineffective and unsatisfying? How can municipal leaders break the cycle of resource scarcity? I answer these questions in this article.   

The California State Auditor's Office suddenly removed the local government high-risk dashboard from its website, leaving city officials and residents without a useful resource to evaluate their cities' financial health and compare it with that of other cities. 

"How does a municipality dig such a deep hole for itself and then proceed to dig itself even deeper? Recently, the City’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan that exemplifies just how cities bring about such compounding failure. Failure that comes not from corruption, not from the lack of diligent execution, and not from insufficient resources, but from pursuing goals that are undesirable and/or unachievable."    

"As with transparency, accountability breaks down when there is organizational dysfunction (e.g., internal political battles, lack of trust, etc.). Accountability also breaks down when decision-makers hide behind the collective decision-making process. (“The consensus made me do it!”) In such an environment, it is easy to forego accountability in favor of scapegoats, obfuscation, or cynicism."  

In what ways are municipalities taking on characteristics of zombie companies? Unfortunately, the phenomenon of "zombie cities" is real. 

"Much can and should be done to improve financial statements and budget reports as forms of communication to the public; however, there are several misconceptions about these documents that exacerbate a reader’s confusion and hamper those who seek to reform financial reporting and budgeting." 

"Given the ineffectiveness of so many actions taken in the name of transparency, what can municipal officials do to actually meet the important objective of keeping their agencies open and honest?" 

"As with transparency, accountability breaks down when there is organizational dysfunction (e.g., internal political battles, lack of trust, etc.). Accountability also breaks down when decision-makers hide behind the collective decision-making process. (“The consensus made me do it!”) In such an environment, it is easy to forego accountability in favor of scapegoats, obfuscation, or cynicism."  

"The programs cities have added this year raise expectations for the future and will be difficult to curtail. When the federal relief money runs dry and the next economic downturn comes, it will be too late to avoid a real panic." 

"If school districts across the State do not successfully negotiate moderate salary adjustments, future salary discussions will be even more contentious. Board members will have smaller reserves and fewer one-time resources to deliver stable educational services. Further, the per pupil cost of public sector education, which already exceeds that of comparable private institutions, will continue to escalate. "