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May the 4th Be With You: Providing the Tools for Solving the Problem

Local government is a powerful problem solver, and the budget is a crucial solution.

Within their organizations, GFOA believes those responsible for the budget should approach their jobs like chefs (innovating, experimenting, and strategizing) rather than like cooks (following a strict protocol to produce a pre-determined outcome). For example, a finance officer who operates like a chef is well-positioned to lead the organization through different challenges, serving as a problem solver to best apply various skills across various current demands.

Traditional budgeting practices seem to start with an unchallenged assumption that resources are mostly already spoken for. When decision-makers begin with how to fund existing services, there is a missed opportunity to better address the organization and community’s problems. However, when decision-makers start with the problem with services as a means to an end, real change can happen to tackle those problems. When local governments take stock of the problems they want to solve, they invite innovation and creative solutions.

In a perfect world, every local government could start fresh with problems at the center of their process. However, the wheel is already in motion. So, the challenge is to find alignment between the problem and the services already in play- to shift away from providing all legacy services to providing solutions to problems. Start with what you want to do, and then determine how your existing resources can be used to make it happen.

Join Chris Fabian, Co-founder and CEO of ResourceX, and Katie Ludwig, Senior Manager of Research and Consulting at GFOA, as they dive into the complex discussion of rethinking the budget process to ensure the problems we face as a society today are being addressed.

May 4, 2022 01:00 PM in Central Time (US and Canada)