BE S T P RAC T I C E S
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COMMUNICATION is the driver for a good county budget process
By EDDIE A. JONES County Government Consultant
many fish you catch or what kind of fish. I, for one, think that making a hard-headed profes- sion out of fishing is a waste of time, because a fish is only a fish, and when you make a lot of work out of him you lose the whole point of him. Fishing gives a man some time to think. It gives him time to collect his thoughts and re- arrange them in an orderly fashion. Once in a while, a fellow wants to get away from every- thing that’s complicated, and fishing is the only way I know of to do it.”
I Since retiring a year ago from full-time coun-
ty government service, I’ve had some time to fish, collect my thoughts and rearrange them in an orderly fashion. Even though I retired from county government, I am still engaged and think about county government often. Lately (probably because of the federal budget mess) I’ve been thinking about the county budget process and how most Arkansas counties already struggle to provide both the mandated and vital services to their citizens.
Te obvious, of course, is the current lack of sufficient revenue to fully fund everything a county needs to fund. Tat is not likely to change any time soon and most are beginning to un- derstand that. Te current state of budgets and the economic outlook very likely will produce a future decade of perennial budget cutting, with each successive year becoming more and more difficult. I am not talking about the old way out of budget dilemmas where across-the-board cuts are implemented. Tat was never a fair or logical way to solve budget problems – especially with the way Arkansas county revenues and budgets
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n the book, Te Old Man and the Boy, the Old Man shares a unique philoso- phy about fishing. “Te thing about fishing,” the Old Man said, “is not how
are structured. I am speaking of developing cri- teria and priorities so that the Quorum Court can adjust the budget to maintain the most criti- cal services. As the federal government reigns in spending – making deep budget cuts – there will be much greater budget pressures put on both state and local governments. Many Arkansas counties have been through substantial budget cutting years and those years may have taught you the importance of good process and even better communication. Let’s look at the process – especially the importance of communication.
It goes without saying that the “county bud-
get” is probably the most important piece of legislation adopted each year by the Quorum Court. What would you rather do, make sau- sage or prepare a county budget? Tey both can be messy. Tere is no way getting around “messy” when making sausage – but mak- ing a county budget does not have to be “messy”. A good county budget pro- cess could be summed up as a com- bination of leadership, collaboration and communication. For anything to work well
it takes leadership –
someone has to be in charge. But, re- member a leader is not a dictator. Te second important element is collabo- ration – a group effort. Te leader and other county and district officials should work together in an intellectual effort to get the job done. And don’t forget communication. Communicate, communicate often, and com- municate some more. Good communication is the driver of a good county budget process. Ev- eryone knows what communication is – it’s the process of exchanging information and ideas. James Humes said, “Te art of communication is the language of leadership.”
Four key groups should be engaged in the communication and budget process: the county elected officials; the employees; the county quo- rum court, and the public. All of these stake-
COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2011
Seems To Me...
holders need to be engaged in the budget pro- cess – especially during times of budget cutting. And the process should start early in order to effectively communicate.
Eddie A. Jones Guest Writer
All county officials have to work with- in a budget. County budget and finance is an area every official should exert effort to under- stand. Budget information should be commu- nicated to the officials and the county officials should be given an opportunity to communicate their ideas and priorities. After all, it is these folks that are charged by law to deliver
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