Building Better Budgets

9/27/2026

The State and Local Ledger

0:00

28:20

Every year, governments across the country spend months preparing budgets. Department heads submit requests. Finance departments assemble spreadsheets. Elected officials debate priorities. Public hearings are held. Eventually, a budget is adopted.

But there is one problem I see over and over again. Many budgets are built by taking last year's budget and adjusting it up or down by a percentage. That approach may be simple. But it is not really budgeting. I want to discuss a practical framework for building better budgets.

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Building Better Budgets
9/27/2026
28:20
Every year, governments across the country spend months preparing budgets. Department heads submit requests. Finance departments assemble spreadsheets. Elected officials debate priorities. Public hearings are held. Eventually, a budget is adopted.But there is one problem I see over and over again. Many budgets are built by taking last year's budget and adjusting it up or down by a percentage. That approach may be simple. But it is not really budgeting. I want to discuss a practical framework for building better budgets.
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Building Better Budgets

The State and Local Ledger

More episodes from "The State and Local Ledger"

Financial and Operational Transparency

Building Better Budgets

Internal Controls That Matter

Proposed Uniform Grant Regulations Changes

State and Local Ledger - Introduction