Budgeting for Our Times: Target Base Budgeting

Target base budgeting sets limits on how much a department may request in its budget. Departments must submit two budget requests—one within the target base and another for additional funds. Some supplemental requests may be funded from a reserve pool. Target base budgeting has been used in parts of the federal government over the last forty years. Its use continues to slowly expand. This article examines the experiences in three cities: Rochester, Tampa, and Phoenix.     

Budgeting for Accountability: Municipal Budgeting for the 1990s

The emphasis of a public budget depends on the time and circumstances in which it is developed. During the 1990s, for example, the emphasis has increasingly been on accountability due to widespread public belief in recent years that government is uncontrollable and responds only to special interests. Over the past few years, local budgeters have begun to adapt to this new environment by improving the accountability of the budget to the public. This article summarizes some of the changes taking place and suggests some additional changes that could be adopted to make local budgeting more accountable.     

Ethics and State Budgeting

Concern is increasing for ethics in government. Budget managers have a limited set of ethical concerns which are being met through a combination of formal codes at the state level and informal understandings at the budget office level. But a framework for ethics in budgeting would require a consensus on important ethical values and a reflection of these values in budget actions and decisions. This evolution might take place through a national code to be adapted by individual states.     

The Profession of Budgeting

Budget practitioners may have difficulty in defining a common academic ground for preparation for their careers sufficient to permit calling themselves professionals. Nevertheless, senior budget persons share common concerns, including significant changes in their relationships to the political officials of their agencies. These changes may be the result of the transition from incremental budgeting in a time of plenty to a time of scarcity and intense competition for resources.     

Budgeting for Federal Capital

This article examines the issues involved in federal investment budgeting and planning for the acquisition of federally-owned assets. It describes the unique role of the federal government and examines the different issues and reforms prompted by differing types of capital and investment sponsored at the federal level. It suggests that meaningful changes can be instituted in our budgeting practices that can make a difference for our budgetary choices without adopting a full-scale capital budget. It also presents a framework for improving federal agency capital decision making based on a study of practices used by leading state and local and private sector organizations. The article is based on testimony delivered before the President's Commission to Study Capital Budgeting.     

Issues in Program Budgeting

Funding arrangements for human service programs are often complex, particularly when intergovernmental financing is involved. There are two financial arrangements used by human services administrators to assure that money budgeted is spent as intended. Reallocation of unspent funds among jurisdictions and carryover to the following year of unspent balances are examined in this article based on examples drawn from two programs in Minnesota.     

Budgeting Rules and Program Outcomes

It is not efficient for a budget system either to enable excessively frequent changes in programs and tax policies or to be rigid and unresponsive. Program durability is one measure of how a budget system weighs the competing goals of resoluteness and responsiveness. The federal budget has different processes—mandatory and discretionary spending and tax expenditures—each based in separate congressional committees and relying on separate procedures. This article examines the budget systems' durability. One finding is that mandatory spending programs and tax expenditures are more durable than programs backed by discretionary spending. However, while programs targeted to vulnerable populations and supporting long‐term planning, such as in income support and health, might benefit from durability, these programs display shorter durability, not longer. While displaying greater durability, tax expenditures do respond to changes in different economic sectors, based on the changes in spending of other budget systems.     

Police Budgeting: Winning Strategies

Based on a national survey of police chiefs with a follow-up focus group, this article discusses budgetary strategies that police departments used to be successful in budgeting. The strategies include: using crime and workload data judiciously; capitalizing on sensational crime incidents; effectively getting the message out; carefully mobilizing interest groups; strategic planning; playing the federal grants game; working closely with the chief executive and elected officials; and involving all departmental staff levels in budgeting.     

Multi-Year Forecasting and Municipal Budgeting

The "black hole" of budget theory still is, after 50 years, budget preparation—much effort goes in but little seems to come out. This article examines municipal forecasting as a means of reforming this first stage of the budgetary process. Drawing on evidence from a cross-sectional study, we find that forecasting is likely to be within the cognitive limits of most municipal budget directors Moreover, budgetary forecasting can be structured to reflect previous and current political concerns.     

Budgeting during the Clinton Presidency

This article assesses the Clinton administration record of budgeting. During President Clinton's two terms, the federal government moved from an era of large deficits to one of equally large surpluses. This turnaround was caused by both the strong economy and the deficit reduction deals of 1990, 1993, and 1997. Defense spending and interest declined as a percentage of the budget, whereas mandatory spending and nondefense discretionary spending increased. Acrimonious interbranch budgetary relationships dominated, with Clinton ultimately winning far more fights than he lost. Executive branch budgetary and financial management capacity improved during the Clinton administration.     

The Case for Congressional Budgeting

William Howard Taft and Frederick A. Cleveland’s vision of executive budgeting clashes with the unique status of the U.S. Congress among the world’s legislatures, and its proponents may exaggerate the potential for presidents to act as fiscal guardians. This article advocates more congressional budgeting by reinstituting effective fiscal rules and strengthening the role of the budget committees. These mechanisms would enhance fiscal discipline and aid consolidation.     

The Line-Item Veto in Government Budgeting

Beginning in January 1997, the president will have the power to veto line-items in appropriations bills This article examines four paragraphs about the line-item veto from Jesse Burkhead's Government Budgeting . Eight themes from Burkhead's writing are identified and compared to practice by the states.