Laserfiche WebLink
Strategies to Improve Communities <br />Earmark <br />By "earmark," we simply mean "use resources." <br />Those resources could be finance, personnel or <br />facilities but reallocation of resources is one <br />common use of The NCS results and those decisions <br />often are linked to the budget. Sometimes direct <br />questions of residents tell you whether there is <br />support for a bond issue or tax increase and <br />sometimes the ratings you receive about the <br />characteristics of your community suggest that new <br />resources are needed to boost flagging opinion. <br />A Case Study in Earmarking <br />Pocatello, Idaho <br />In Pocatello, Idaho some residents brought to <br />council's attention the sore state of the existing <br />animal shelter and the need for a new place. Because <br />city council members were careful stewards of the <br />public treasury, they were reluctant to forge ahead <br />with a new expenditure, even if it was for wayward <br />pets. Pocatello, Idaho used survey results to <br />determine if there was enough resident support to <br />include a ballot initiative in a local election. Clearly, <br />as you see in the table of results, below, there was! <br />Now, the question did not include a price or a <br />payment structure, but the overwhelming sentiment <br />in favor showed that there was an opportunity to <br />move forward (even with the expected decline in <br />support once costs were identified) and that clear <br />opportunity helped council make a decision to put <br />the shelter's construction on the ballot. <br />To what extent would you support or oppose the <br />construction of a new Animal Shelter to improve and <br />expand the facility? <br />Strongly support <br />Somewhat support <br />Somewhat oppose <br />Strongly oppose <br />Total <br />Percent <br />47% <br />40% <br />7% <br />6% <br />100% <br />In the words of one city administrator, "... on the last <br />survey, we had one question asking about support <br />for replacing the city's animal shelter. The response <br />on that particular question was so strong that a very <br />conservative council was nonetheless motivated to <br />put the question on the ballot for a $2.8M bond (in <br />Idaho, cities cannot go into long-term debt without a <br />vote of the citizens and it has to be 2/3 YES (66%) in <br />order for a general obligation bond to pass). The <br />bond passed with 72%. I've pointed to this result as <br />an example of why surveys are useful. You think <br />there is no support and has no chance in a bond <br />election? The survey suggested otherwise and in fact <br />it was otherwise. I'm fairly certain that without the <br />survey, the question never would have made it to the <br />ballot, let alone pass. So there you are." <br />You can see a great video about the Pocatello Animal <br />Shelter and how the bond measure helped them <br />achieve their goals on their website: <br />httn: / /www.nocatello.us /animal /. <br />A more recent trend in governing relates to the use <br />of performance -based budgeting (see Fort Collins' <br />"Budgeting for Outcomes" <br />httn://www.fcgov.com/citvmanager/budget.nhn) or <br />priority -based budgeting (see Boulder's "Priority <br />Based Budget" <br />httns: / /bouldercolorado.gov/budget/priority-based- <br />budgeting ). Performance budgeting is based on an <br />organization's mission, goals and objectives. It is a <br />way to allocate resources and link the distribution of <br />fund to measured results.l° Because the key outcome <br />or "result" of local governing is resident satisfaction, <br />surveys are often used to include residents in the <br />budgeting process. Many local governments are now <br />using resident opinion to help evaluate resource <br />allocations made based on performance -based <br />budgeting. Organizations that are using Priority <br />Based Budgeting, first seek clarification about what <br />community goals should drive resource allocation. <br />Not only are elected officials asked what community <br />goals should be, but The National Citizen Survey <br />includes questions to assess community values that <br />provide empirical evidence of what residents feel is <br />most important for funding. (See <br />httn: / /www.nbbcenter.org/ for more on Priority <br />Based Budgeting.) <br />Following is a verbatim description from one of the <br />Livermore, California managers showing how <br />Livermore uses The NCS results in a comprehensive <br />budgeting process. <br />10 K. Carter,The Performance Budget Revisited: A Report on State Budget <br />Reform - Legislative Finance,Paper #91, Denver, National Conference of <br />State Legislatures, pp. 2-3 <br />© 2014, National Research Center, Inc. Page 18 <br />