To Increase Trust in Government, Reinvent the Local Government Budget

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Chris Morrill
• DOI: 10.1177/0160323X211000835
• Subject Matter: Perspective Essay

Perspective Essay

To Increase Trust in

Government, Reinvent the

Local Government Budget

Chris Morrill

1

Trust is an asset as important as any other that can

be found on our balance sheets.

—GFOA’s Code of Ethics

A well-functioning democracy requires citi-

zens’ trust in their governmental institutions.

In times of crisis, when state and local govern-

ments need community support to respond

effectively, trust becomes even more critical.

Without earning that trust, communities cannot

succeed in addressing the impact of the

COVID 19 pandemic, economic uncertainty,

systemic racism, increasing severe weather

events, and the growing list of other crises. But

how can we accomplish this at a time of

increasing polarization, misinformation, and

civic disillusionment?

GFOA—and its members—have focused

our trust building efforts in three areas:

values-based ethics, a leadership framework

based on common pool resource theory, and

rethinking local government budgeting.

The budget is arguably the most important

policy document prepared by a local govern-

ment. Through the allocation of scarce

resources, the budget should reflect a commu-

nity’s values and where it believes investments

will most help its citizens thrive. If prepared

transparently and informed by research, with

real community engagement, data, and best

practices, the budget can build a foundation

of trust between a local government and its

citizens.

The incremental, opaque approach to bud-

geting that is still prevalent today, reduces gov-

ernments’ ability to innovate and use data for

better decision making. Traditional budget pro-

cesses do not fully incorporate community

needs or address past inequities. In short, bud-

get preparation with little data, non-existent,

or flawed, citizen engagement, and a bias for

the status quo, continue to perpetuate inequi-

ties, contributing to the ongoing trend of citizen

distrust in government. We believe there is a

better way.

A New Approach to Budgeting

Aaron Wildavsky wrote “A Budget for All Sea-

sons? Why the Traditional Budget Lasts,” a

seminal article describing the shortcomi ngs of

traditional budgeting, in 1978. The issues he

described more than 40 years ago are essen-

tially the same ones bedeviling us today! We

need to ask, then, what’s different now that

we can expect to lead to different results than

those described in 1978? These differences

show us how we can make constructive

changes.

1

Government Finance Officers Association, Chicago, IL,

USA

Corresponding Author:

Chris Morrill, Government Finance Officers Association,

203 N. La Salle St., Ste. 2700, Chicago, IL 60601, USA.

Email: cmorrill@gfoa.org

State and Local GovernmentReview

2021, Vol. 53(1) 10-13

ªThe Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0160323X211000835

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