Report Release: Budget Resiliency — A Practice for an Adaptive and Resilient Recovery
The Covid-19 pandemic turned the world and therefore the health and fiscal solvency of cities upside down. And while the federal government has bolstered its efforts to ensure an economic recovery, now is a critical time to reflect on how cities make budget decisions to address structural inequities, build a foundation of financial stability, develop creative processes that ensure engagement with residents as it all comes together.
The pandemic resulted in a reduction of city services, staff layoffs, and programmatic shutdowns. To help cities respond to these unprecedented crises, Cityfi and HR&A hosted a Budget Resiliency workshop series beginning in the fall of 2020 with a cohort of five cities: Detroit, Macon-Bibb, Miami, Philadelphia, and St. Paul. Supported by the Knight Foundation, this program has focused on building equitable and resilient communities one budget decision at a time.
The final report, Budget Resiliency — A Practice for an Adaptive and Resilient Recovery, is now available, and details case studies, policy frameworks, and recommendations for cities to enhance their capacity for budget resiliency in four key areas:
Equitable Budgeting
Equity must be at the front and center of budget resiliency. Equity in budgeting means considering where funding comes from, how it is allocated, where it is spent, and who is impacted in order to drive more and longer-term equitable outcomes for the community.
New Revenue Generation
To be resilient, a city must identify new and innovative revenue sources. How can cities think about new revenue generation? Two ways: develop new revenue, and grow existing revenue sources. Cities that are willing to reframe their thinking about assets and services have the potential to unearth new revenue sources that can help stabilize a city or department’s budget during difficult times.
Cost Savings and Efficiencies
Times of budget shortfall can lead to extremely challenging decisions that are not always a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding the true value of programs is critical, and utilizing data in a proactive manner will find efficiencies. This also includes managing real estate assets as a sustainable revenue source.
Building Partnerships
Partnering with third parties such as academia, companies, foundations, and non-profit institutions is a helpful way to increase resources and drive cost savings. How can cities better manage partnerships and consider equity throughout the process?
This report is particularly relevant as cities write proposals and budgets for the next fiscal year, including and especially allocating stimulus dollars from the American Rescue Plan. The recommendations will aid cities in thinking through project prioritization and process improvement across multiple departments.
Finally, we anticipate this work to be a starting point of conversation. The value of budget resiliency efforts will benefit cities in years to come by creating agility in bureaucratic processes in times of unforeseen crisis and providing a structure to promote and provide equitable services. Building resilient and equitable communities will take collaboration and ingenuity to learn from one another. This new network of budget-minded professionals has much work, and support, ahead of it.
For more information about this report or the Budget Resiliency Program, please contact us at info@cityfi.co.
