Building Trust.

• Author: Morrill, Christopher P.
• Position: FROM THE CEO

The past few months have served as weighty reminder of the important work that finance officers play for their governments and communities. As we all battle to control the spread of COVID-19, GFOA members are working to ensure that local governments can take advantage of federal funding programs, that essential workers receive the supplies and support they need, and that government services are accessible to all those who need them. In addition, the current recession has put significant strain on revenues, creating a need for budget reductions, fiscal first aid techniques, and careful long-term planning to ensure the sustainability of their organizations.

Despite all of the technical issues that we have faced over the past few months, however, the government finance officer's most important duty is ensuring transparency and accountability, and maintaining public trust. Trust is an asset as important as any that can be found on our balance sheets. Protests and demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshon Brooks, and others, along with the increased prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement, have highlighted not only the need for police reform, but also placed a spotlight on local governments' budgets--specifically on the amount of funding we allocate to law enforcement.

Before coming to GFOA, I was the budget director for the City of Savannah, Georgia, and the city manager for the City of Roanoke, Virginia. I understand that developing a budget is one of the most important functions for a local government--and one of the most difficult. And I know that an inclusive budget process, based on data and community dialogue, can build trust within the organization and between the government and its citizens.

As governments now focus additional attention on their budgets and consider making big changes, we need to improve the quality of budgeting itself. GFOA is committed to this mission, and we have launched a research project to "rethink" budgeting.

A project to improve budgeting sounds like business as usual. However, this undertaking, is not going to be simply about developing recommendations for a better process. We are looking to go deeper and promote better understanding of the role the budget process plays in organizational policy and its ability to promote public trust. We also plan to explore popular "myths" or "traditional practices" and challenge their role in our ability to properly plan, hold...