Modernizing Budgeting: A Transformational Shift to Priority-Based Budgeting (Spring 2025) Limited Seating Available

Local governments have been clinging to the same incremental budgeting approaches for decades. In fact, the practice of line-item budgeting recently passed the 100-year mark. This type of budgeting creates a use-it-or-lose-it mentality and promotes across-the-board budget cuts that don’t consider factors other than a percentage, making it difficult to connect funding with strategic goals or performance metrics. The primary purpose of priority-based budgeting is to dissociate decision-making from account numbers and line items, instead basing funding allocations on the programs and services that meet specific needs. Unlike traditional models, priority-based budgeting evaluates each program in various areas to determine its current alignment to the community’s priorities—and provides a price tag for that program to demonstrate how funds are being used to support those priorities. Schedule: May 8, 2025 Module One: Building Greater Alignment with Priority-Based Budgeting Data Module Two: