Two decades ago, performance-based budgeting was all the rage. When times were flush during the late 1990s, its appeal faded. But as state and local budgets have tightened, interest in performance budgeting and the heightened level of accountability it provides if implemented correctly is again on the rise.

Performance-based budgeting holds government agencies accountable for what they achieve, not just what they spend. It requires agencies to determine what their goals are, then establish specific outcome measures to determine whether they are achieving those goals. The next step is to link appropriations to results by using outcomes to help officials decide how to apportion scarce resources.

Half the states are currently using some form of performance budgeting. As part of their budget requests, Iowa agencies are required to show their performance levels and link them to their budgets by describing how different funding levels would affect that performance. Virginia used performance data to cancel a $3.2 million employee wellness program that had sub-par participation. The commonwealth also invested an additional $22 million in a pre-kindergarten program for at-risk children after an audit tied the program to higher literacy rates.

In a perfect world, every state would use performance-based budgeting. But we dont live in perfect world. In October, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a performance-budgeting bill that unanimously passed both houses of the legislature. He argued that developing and tracking performance metrics for all departmentssome of which should perhaps be eliminatedwould cost tens of millions of dollars and be unlikely to yield benefits. But having the data available for all agencies is the only way to make apples-to-apples comparisons of potential spending priorities across government.

Doing performance budgeting right requires a long-term strategic plan. The ONE North Carolina Agenda is a good example. It lists statewide priorities and goals that provide agencies with direction, but also gives them space to define specific goals and performance measures.

Just as corporate executives are often overly focused on quarterly profits, elected officials arent always great at making plans that extend beyond their own terms. And even if they are willing to look beyond the horizon, governors, legislative leaders and agency heads dont always agree on longer-term priorities.

Implementing a whole new approach to budgeting requires training and takes a lot of work, particularly on the front end. Establishing goals and performance measures means building budgets from the bottom up, not just focusing on incremental increases or cuts. It takes a lot of time to regularly review and update performance measures. These tasks present a particular challenge during a period of scarce resources. And lets face it: Some government workers will resist being held far more accountable for results.

But performance-based budgeting is a tool that offers the promise of providing taxpayers with a realistic answer to the question, What am I getting for my money? That alone makes overcoming the obstacles to its implementation well worth the work.

Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday he is pleased the states executive director of budgeting could bring some holiday cheer to lawmakers with a revised budget forecast that might potentially allow $89 million to be restored to Colorados education funding.

Still, the head of the legislatures money- minding Joint Budget Committee stopped short of endorsing the plan to boost education dollars based on budget predictions.

Were still in a very tentative situation economically, said Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen. We need to stay vigilant and careful with our budget.

Hickenloopers budget-makers told legislators they expect revenues for the current fiscal year to come in $231 million above expectations. That, plus an expected boost to next fiscal years revenues, have the governor proposing the restoration to K-12 education funding, plus additions to the higher-education budget and to a program that helps needy seniors pay their rent and heating bills.

Its one of the good days to talk about the budget, Hickenlooper said at a news conference.

Henry Sobanet, executive director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, said, Everything syncs up with places we didnt want to cut.

The nonpartisan economists of the Colorado Legislative Council, who work for lawmakers, estimated this years budget boost as only $148 million, though they are more optimistic than the governors office about next fiscal years revenues. But Natalie Mullis, the Legislative Councils chief economist, said the differences arent significant.

She cautioned, though, that the extra money which comes in a general-fund budget of about $7 billion doesnt mean Colorado is flush.

It sounds like a lot of money, she said, but its really not because it doesnt include the cost of inflation and rising caseloads.

Still, reaction to the budget news Tuesday was, understandably, positive.

The Colorado Education Association called Hickenloopers budget proposal a welcomed gift for Colorado kids this holiday season.

Sobanet said a factor that could alter the current budget forecast is another major economic disruption in Europe.

Colorado exports a lot of goods and services to Europe, Sobanet said. Theyre a major trading partner. If their inability to purchase goods and services is hampered in some way, thats how it could affect the national economy, and Colorado is linked to our national economy.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, criticized Hickenlooper for not instead using the extra money to restore a $100 million property-tax exemption for seniors.

While I am disappointed that Gov. Hickenlooper continues to propose a property-tax increase on Colorados seniors most in need, Colorados slow economic recovery gives us reason for optimism, Stephens said in a statement.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com

This years mayoral election brought up topics of zero-based
budgeting, efficiencies in the city, cutting red tape for
businesses, and creating a procurement code thats reliable. Now,
before the new mayor has even stepped in, some City Council members
are taking a deeper look at all of those issues.

Whats happening right now is everybody seems to be gravitating
toward one or two of the reform issues they feel are important,
said Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who is forming a group, along with
Councilman Tom Simplot, to cut red tape. Those are all important
reforms that Ive been talking about for two years now.

DiCiccio and Simplot have a goal to get their committee cutting red
tape as soon as possible, and have the first changes brought to the
city in 60 days. Their committee is the newest in the city focused
on reform.

Jim Waring is working on procurement, Bill Gates is looking at
efficiencies, and Vice Mayor Thelda Williams is working on a
zero-based budget.

As a state senator for several years, I tried to focus on three
issues that were my big things, Waring said. While I may focus on
procurement, Im certainly working on other issues as well. Theres
at least a couple of us trying to divvy up the work a little bit.
You try to be the expert in those issues. If you try to be the
expert in all issues, youre going to have a problem. Theres not
enough hours in a day. This is all stuff I worked on as a state
senator, so its sort of carrying over.

Waring is hoping that a year from now the city will have changed or
improved three major things about procurement. He would like to see
complaints about the system sent to someone other than those
running it, Phoenix-based businesses have some advantage over
out-of-state businesses and theres more uniformity in the way
things are run.

Waring said hes talked to the new mayor, Greg Stanton, about this
issue and hopes it will get some attention in the coming year.
Stanton did say during his campaign that he is opposed to a
one-size-fits-all approach to a procurement code, but the process
in general is something that needs adjustment.

He has asked me if I had any special requests for subcommittees,
Waring said. Realistically, I feel like committees are a way to
not do anything – its not. I hope a year from now well have
settled a lot of the issues at the city, and well have a firmer
financial sitting.

Gates has been working on creating more efficiencies within the
city for a year, and says its an ongoing process.

I think for me, coming from the private sector, Ive always been
focused on efficiencies and its something the private sector had
to focus on quicker than government, just given the profit motive,
Gates said. To see that translated into government I saw as a real
challenge, and Im very pleased with what weve been able to do so
far. Were certainly not done.

Gates is also waiting on word from Stanton as to whether or not his
committee will be allowed to continue, but finding efficiencies is
something Stanton did outline as an important issue. Stanton
suggested combining some departments within the city, for example,
something Gates committee has already been working on.

Williams is working on the final reform act, something DiCiccio
says could be the biggest zero-based budgeting.

If Thelda gets her process through it will be known as the best
budget anywhere in the country, and the most transparent, DiCiccio
said. I saw what she helped put together, and it was already
considered to be the best.

Williams was not available for comment on where the process is at,
but a zero-based budget would allow residents and the council to
search over the budget line-by-line to determine what is necessary.
It would force departments annually to add up costs they need,
rather than starting with the past years budgeting and adjusting
that. DiCiccio hopes the city will honestly accept the idea.

There seems to be an early commitment to get these things
through, DiCiccio said. The goal is to be the best, not one of
the best. Not to be better, but the best at everything we do. If we
can move these four critical reform components forward, thats real
substantive, youll see a much better, stronger city, and well
create more jobs in the private sector.

Contact writer: (480) 898-7914 or
ahurtado@ahwatukee.com

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, Dec 21, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
CGI Group Inc.

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, a leading provider of
information technology and business process services, today announced
that the State of Vermont’s Office of Budget and Management selected,
through a competitive evaluation process, CGI’s public sector
performance budgeting solution to replace its aging budget system and
integrate with the State’s existing enterprise resource planning
(ERP) platform.

Vermont sought a vendor partner that could provide a comprehensive
range of budgetary capabilities including budget development, revenue
planning, position and salary forecasting, and performance management
as well as statewide consolidation, adoption, and revision
capabilities. As part of CGI’s AMS Advantage ERP suite, the
performance budgeting solution offers flexible and configurable
budgeting functionality that meets the unique needs of the public
sector without time consuming and costly customizations. The open
architecture supports integration with Vermont’s existing ERP system
and allows for statewide reporting that is timely, accurate, and
reliable. Both U.S. State and Local as well as U.S. Federal clients
use CGI’s state-of-the-art budget tool to gain better visibility into
and control of their complex, multi-entity budgets.

“CGI has pioneered performance budgeting in the public sector and our
solution has a rich heritage of successful implementations,” said
Daniel Keene, Vice-President of CGI’s AMS Advantage program. “We are
proud to welcome the State as a new client in the CGI public sector
ERP user community and look forward to delivering a powerful
budgeting solution capable of supporting Vermont’s current and future
business needs.”

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From states, cities, counties and school districts, CGI’s AMS
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About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent
information technology and business process services firms in the
world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 31,000
professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process
services to clients worldwide from offices and centers of excellence
in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific. As at
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and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in both the Dow Jones
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www.cgi.com/newsroom

Contacts:
Investors
Lorne Gorber
Senior Vice-President, Global Communications and
Investor Relations
lorne.gorber@cgi.com
514-841-3355

Media
Linda Odorisio
Vice-President, US Communications
linda.odorisio@cgi.com
703-267-8118

SOURCE: CGI Group Inc.

mailto:lorne.gorber@cgi.com
mailto:linda.odorisio@cgi.com

Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

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Dec. 23, 2011 5:40p

Just in time for another budget-related showdown this week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has provided a user-friendly chart with highlights of federal borrowing, spending and debt.

The one-pager has just enough details to keep policy wonks pleased but not so much that eyes glaze over. It can be found here.

Congress is about to enter a busy week on the budget front as it prepares to pass a spending bill to keep the government running for the rest of the 2012 fiscal year and tries to find compromise over President Obamas proposal to extend a payroll tax holiday for 160 million American workers.

One part of the chart sure to capture attention: that bright yellow bar that shows public-held US debt at 67% of the nations gross domestic product for 2011, the highest level in the past 40 years.

Debt has been at record levels for a combination of reasons federal spending to prop up the economy during the recession, lower tax revenues because of the economic downturn. But such nuances often become lost in the heat of partisan battles such as those ahead.

GRAHAM A move that allowed some Alamance County department chiefs to handle their areas like small businesses started with the new fiscal year in July. The first report? Well, the reviews are mixed.

Not too bad, said County Manager Craig Honeycutt.

Not enough savings, said County Commissioner Tim Sutton.

I am pleased so far, said Honeycutt, who plans to discuss the first quarter of the new performance=based budgeting process with the Board of Commissioners on Monday. The departments seemed to have met most of their performance measures.

Six county departments initiated performance-based budgets this year. The departments emergency medical services, libraries, maintenance, social services, recreation and geographic information systems agreed to develop the new program for fiscal 2011-12

The performance-based budgeting plan, patterned after one already in place for Davidson County, would make county departments eligible to keep a portion of their savings after the fiscal 2012-13 is completed. This will give time for the county departments to evaluate and strengthen their goals and for the commissioners to develop a monetary policy on how the savings could be spent.

The participating departments will provide county management with information from their budgeting monthly. This information will be provided to the county commissioners on a quarterly basis for evaluation.

Honeycutt said Tuesday the performance-based budget plan would likely not create substantial cost savings for the county but would improve departments efficiencies.

supported the countys implementation of performance-base budgeting, but said he believes the early results show minimal savings for the county.

Performance-based budgeting has fallen flat, Sutton said this week. Where are all the savings?

Sutton said that the county department heads shouldnt be allowed to set their goals. Sutton said that county management should establish the goals instead for each department to follow.

During a 2009 visit, Sutton and Assistant County Manager Tim Burgess met with Davidson County officials to discuss the benefits of using a performance-based budgeting process, which Davidson County started during the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

According to officials, the program helped save Davidson County $7.1 million from 2004 through 2009. For fiscal 2009-10, Davidson County saved $1.6 million.

When it comes to issues involving money, all we ask for is transparency. Being inexpensive is great, but we’re reasonable and realistic, so we’ll settle for transparency.

It’s possible tuition might increase approximately 3 percent to meet inflation. The increase would mean undergraduate students would pay $8 more per credit hour. Resident students would be paying $261.60 per credit hour and non-resident students would be paying $708.70 per credit hour.

It’s frustrating to have to pay more money, but it’s even more frustrating when students enter as freshman expecting to pay a certain price only to watch that price increase.

Missouri should consider pushing the grandfather clause, which would guarantee students who enter the university, after agreeing to pay a certain amount, would graduate from the university paying the same amount. Tuition could increase, but only for incoming freshman.

Although the last thing we want to do is pay more money, we understand it is necessary for the university to find the funding it needs to function, but we want to know why exactly we have to pay more money and what the money will go toward.

The increase is a result of both inflation and cuts in state funding. Inflation we understand, but the cuts in state funding we don’t. Governor Jay Nixon said that college affordability is a top priority, but he doesn’t seem to be putting his words into action.

Nixon said if schools froze tuition rates he would increase funding to those schools, but it never came. In fact, the state cut university support by 8.1 percent when MU increased tuition beyond the inflation rate last year.

This is confusing given Nixon’s goal of increasing Missouri college-degree holders by 25 percent by 2020, a goal made more difficult if the cost of college is increasing.

So the university is being punished for doing what was asked of it, and students are paying for it — literally.

If students are paying for it, students should see the benefits. We ask that the money be put to good use, that professors who deserve raises get raises, and that the buildings that need renovation get that work done. We understand budgeting is a difficult task, and we’re not asking for a miracle, just a better job.

Strathcona County council wrapped up the 2012-2014 Budget and Business Plan Initiatives proceedings on Wednesday.

The final budget package will be presented to council on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Based on the discussions between council, county departments and administration, there is a recommended tax dollar increase of approximately 4.84 per cent for 2012. This is a preliminary figure and will not be finalized until discussions wrap up on Dec. 13.

The budget theme, as discussed on Tuesday, Nov. 15, reflects the countys responsibility for delivering quality services while preparing for sustainability. The implementation of the 2012-2014 Business Plan and 2012 Budget will commence both the Sustainability Platform and the Economic Sustainability Framework.

Business plans and budget requests presented by administrative departments are financial and organizational expressions of community-wide priorities.

Direction for the 2012 budget was presented to council on May 31. This direction advised investigation to provide opportunities for service levels using a projected tax dollar increase of less than 7.4 per cent, investigate franchise fees with a view to increase the natural gas franchise fee and potentially implement an electricity franchise fee, as well as explore using $4 million to leverage $50 million in new debt and explore implementing a one per cent infrastructure tax to leverage $20 million in new debt.

Key service drivers for the budget process are county frameworks, plans and strategies. Frameworks includes the Social Sustainability Framework, county plans include the Municipal Development Plan, while strategies include Everybody Gets to Play.

In addition, County Policies and Bylaws, such as the Public Engagement Policy and Land Use Bylaw act as service drivers.

Service drivers on the provincial level encompass various acts and regulations, such as the Traffic Safety Act and Alberta Building Codes. On the federal level, these acts and standards include the Pension Benefits Standards Act and Transport Canada Aviation Regulations.

The proposed 2012 municipal operating budget is $240.2 million, which represents the required resources for implementing councils strategic direction, maintaining county programming and service levels, as well as provide Business Plan Initiatives.

This operating budget takes into consideration a municipal price inflation (MPI) of approximately 3.5 per cent for 2012, which will amount to an estimated $6.6 million for county municipal operations. MPI represents increases to costs for county goods ,such as asphalt or gravel, and reflects the unstable global economy.

In order to maintain current service levels in the county, the 2012 operating budget requires a municipal property tax dollar increase of 5.03 per cent, which is equivalent to $8.2 million.

The recommended 2012 municipal capital budget is $107 million and has a continued focus on replacing existing capital infrastructure, which amounts to $41.5 million. This is a key component in maintaining programs and service levels.

The capital budget includes an investment in new priority capital infrastructure of $65.5 million, which is in response to an increased demand for services due to population growth.

Two million dollars in new debt for municipal operation is proposed to support priority capital infrastructure projects.

Strathcona Countys total debt projected for Dec. 31, 2012 is $201 million. This falls within the limit legislated by the provincial government.

target=_blank>meaghan@sherwoodparknews.com

twitter.com/Meaghan_Baxter

The forthcoming budget is at a critical time: the Nigerian economy is doing well but living dangerously. The dangers are not internal – the domestic economy is now being well-managed and has good prospects for growth. But in respect of both government revenue and the capacity to import, Nigeria has all its eggs in one basket: oil.

Ordinary Nigerian households and businesses are heavily dependent upon government spending and imports. And so they are dependent upon the world oil market. Unfortunately, the world oil market has proved to be spectacularly volatile. In the past three years alone the price of oil has ranged between $37 and $148. Had either of these prices persisted the consequences for the Nigerian economy would have been profound: the difference between famine and feast. So where is the world oil price heading?

In the short run the oil price is a barometer of the world economy. Oil is an efficient form of energy for transport and so the demand for oil tracks global trade and production. Unfortunately, prospects for the world economy have not been so uncertain for many decades. Disastrously, and without recent precedent, the sources of uncertainty lie at the core of the world economy. This is not a Latin American and Africa crisis, as in the 1980s, nor an Asian crisis, as in the 1990s; it is a crisis in Europe and America. While a degree of African gloating would be understandable, it has to be tempered by the realization of the consequences of an economic crisis at the core.

The European economies are teetering on the edge of what could be a deep and prolonged recession. The meltdown in Eurozone bond markets which started in August will not show up in the level of activity in the real economy until the 4th quarter of 2011. Nobody knows how bad this will be, but there is a lot of fear. Meanwhile, the baseline of 3rd quarter activity is dismal: across the entire European Union growth during the 3rd quarter was a mere 0.2 percent. Nor does America look much better. The budget deficit is alarming yet unaddressed, many households are already ‘under water’ with their mortgages while house prices continue to fall, and rising inequality is surely building political trouble. The accumulated over-indebtedness of both governments and households may take years to correct: Europe and America might repeat the prolonged stagnation that Japan has had ever since its analogous crisis of two decades ago. Confidence is being further eroded because these daunting problems are being handled by leaders and decision processes that are proving to be dysfunctional beyond parody.

So far, despite this mess, the demand for oil has held up thanks to growth in Asia. But ultimately, Asian growth is heavily dependent upon continued export growth to European and American markets. These were, indeed, the conditions prevailing at the onset of the 2008 crisis when the oil price crashed to $37. Thankfully, the oil price rapidly bounced back because in the OECD demand was revived by coordinated fiscal and monetary expansion, and in China demand was rebalanced from exports to the domestic economy. But it is unlikely that that can now be repeated. The OECD lacks the confidence for fiscal expansion, and China is in the midst of a property bubble which may already be bursting. In short, the demand for oil is now decidedly precarious.

This matters for Nigeria’s next budget. Nigerians can hope for the best, but should prepare for turbulent times. An optimistic budget that turned out to be unsustainable would plunge the country into chaotic and vicious forced reductions in public spending. Older Nigerians have lived through that sort of budgeting once; I doubt they wish to do so again.

There is a further reason for prudence: big oil revenues may not persist for more than a generation. Even before Nigeria’s oil is exhausted the long term world price may weaken because of developments in world supply. Until recently, energy economists were debating ‘peak oil’ – the idea that available world oil supplies were in terminal decline. Peak oil is now forgotten: new technologies – shale gas, fracking, tar sands and tight oil – have opened up vast new deposits. North America will soon be self-sufficient and will remain so through the century. Across Africa oil and gas are being discovered by the month. This is before we allow for the more exotic technologies: solar power, bio-fuels, and exploration at the poles and beneath the oceans.

If Nigeria were to persist with the policies of the past, using almost all the oil revenues only for current consumption, the present generation of leaders would find themselves in their old age, standing in the dock of history, condemned by their children. ‘What’, they would demand, ‘is there to show for the natural assets that you chose to deplete?’ Gradually, Nigerian public expenditure needs to shift from recurrent consumption to assets.

The case for caution in the forthcoming budget could scarcely be stronger. Prudence in spending on recurrent consumption may well turn out to be vital because of turmoil in the world economy: revenues may turn out to be much lower than hoped. But if, fortuitously, the world is spared recession, caution in consumption would have an equally valuable reward. The revenues not used on consumption would be the first step in the long march towards the assets that Nigeria so manifestly needs for a more prosperous future.

opinion

During the first half of 2011, the draft bill that is to determine how Kenyas new budget process will function was mired in obscurity.

Few people were talking about it, and fewer knew why it mattered. This was in contrast to other areas of reform, such as devolution, where civil society was energised and attentive.

Then, suddenly, the Public Financial Management (PFM) bill was making headlines.