There’s a new bottom line coming to City Hall – performance-based budgeting.
Department heads will be required to devise budgets that reflect multiple year projects and objectives and measures that can be used to judge success or failure.
It is a move that the Manteca City Council directed City Manager Steve Pinkerton to make.
Line-by-line budgeting will still exist for keeping track of expenses and revenue. The new system, though, will give department heads more discretion to shift funds around internally to meet objectives. They still have to come under budget but if they need more resources that they can obtain by rethinking something that is of a lower priority to switch money around internally in their own department budget they will have the freedom to do so.
At the same time, it gives the council the ability to set policy and priorities at budget time instead of simply going over department budgets line by line.
A sample of the shape of next fiscal year’s budget format was provided during the recent council workshop using the police department as an example.
The document – prepared by Police Chief Dave Bricker – outlined department mission statement, goals and responsibilities, administration, operations, department highlights, staffing and reorganization, department budgetary goals, performance measures, and a slew of graphs and statistics that elected leaders – and the public – can use to determine how the department is doing in meeting its objectives.
Mayor Willie Weatherford lauded the move which is something he has advocated for years.
The mayor noted a few years back the police chief wanted to replace bullet-proof vests that were in bad repair. The city manager at the time struck out the item in the line budget.
To Weatherford, that was unacceptable.
“You’ve got to entrust department heads to meet their objectives within the budget and give them the flexibility when needed (to shift things around),” Weatherford said.
Weatherford added that the police chief ended up getting the bullet proof vests when the council heard about the issue and overruled the city manager.
Department heads will be required to devise budgets that reflect multiple year projects and objectives and measures that can be used to judge success or failure.
It is a move that the Manteca City Council directed City Manager Steve Pinkerton to make.
Line-by-line budgeting will still exist for keeping track of expenses and revenue. The new system, though, will give department heads more discretion to shift funds around internally to meet objectives. They still have to come under budget but if they need more resources that they can obtain by rethinking something that is of a lower priority to switch money around internally in their own department budget they will have the freedom to do so.
At the same time, it gives the council the ability to set policy and priorities at budget time instead of simply going over department budgets line by line.
A sample of the shape of next fiscal year’s budget format was provided during the recent council workshop using the police department as an example.
The document – prepared by Police Chief Dave Bricker – outlined department mission statement, goals and responsibilities, administration, operations, department highlights, staffing and reorganization, department budgetary goals, performance measures, and a slew of graphs and statistics that elected leaders – and the public – can use to determine how the department is doing in meeting its objectives.
Mayor Willie Weatherford lauded the move which is something he has advocated for years.
The mayor noted a few years back the police chief wanted to replace bullet-proof vests that were in bad repair. The city manager at the time struck out the item in the line budget.
To Weatherford, that was unacceptable.
“You’ve got to entrust department heads to meet their objectives within the budget and give them the flexibility when needed (to shift things around),” Weatherford said.
Weatherford added that the police chief ended up getting the bullet proof vests when the council heard about the issue and overruled the city manager.
