Fundamentals of Local Government Budgeting

Dates and Times:

August 17, 2020: 1:30pm – 4pm ET
August 18, 2020: 1:30pm – 4pm ET
August 19, 2020: 2pm – 4pm ET
August 24, 2020: 1:30pm – 4pm ET
August 25, 2020: 1:30pm – 4pm ET
August 26, 2020: 2pm – 4pm ET

Program Description:
As finance officers deal with financial challenges related to the COVID-19 recession and participate in broader conversations on the role of government and its ability to provide services equitably, a local government’s ability to budget will be critically important. This virtual training will emphasize the fundamental components of a local government’s budget policies and processes along with best practices and techniques required for effective budgeting.

Each training module/day will focus on a specific topic and feature both presentation and interactive discussion/exercises. Attendees will go through the basic structures of a local government budget, learn how budgeting can be better used to promote long-term planning, process improvement, and community outcomes. In addition, the course will cover specific techniques for developing the budget, communicating budget messages, and identifying strategies for approaching cutback budgeting to deal with the current crisis.

Who Will Benefit: Finance and budget professionals desiring to learn budget fundamentals in light of COVID-19

• Learn the basic structure of a government budget (i.e., funds, departments, accounts, programs, projects, etc.) and how budgeting principles relate to accounting and financial reporting
• Understand why budgeting is important and the connection to long-term planning and performance management
• Learn how to perform basic revenue and expenditure analysis
• Understand the various methods local governments use to develop a budget
• Learn techniques for personnel budgeting and capital budgeting
• Identify strategies for public engagement
• Develop strategies for effective communication and presentation of the budget
• Identify methods to monitor and evaluate budgetary performance
• Learn about GFOA’s Fiscal First Aid techniques and how to balance the budget in a recession