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Budgeting, in the public sector, takes on many forms. Over the past two decades Governmental budgeting has gone through several forms of budgeting techniques. All of these techniques were attempted in the name of a more expeditious, more acurate, and more effective means of budgeting. These innovative processes have waxed and waned throughout the last two decades, some having fallen from grace, while others are still being utilized. New systems often to appear in the budgeting arena, but are unable to sustain themselves in public sector budgeting.The most well known of the recent budgeting techniques entering the public sector has been the program budgeting or Planning Programming Budgeting System, Management by Objectives, and Zero-Base Budgeting. These techniques have passed through the budgeting arena in substantially this order, with program budgeting entering the federal government in the early sixties. Zero-Base entered the budgeting sector in the latter 1970's, with the Carter administration. Each entered the budgeting picture as the answer to the complexity anddifficulty of public budgeting. Each was proclaimed to be a more effective way to plan and forecast a budget.These innovative techniques were all devised as a way to replace the line-item budget which is based on historical incremental changes. The line-item budget is the oldest and still the most widely used form of all forms of budgeting systems. This traditional form of budgeting has lasted throughout the decades for some reason, be it resistance to change, or the fact that incremental changes in government budgeting is the most easily acceptable method to both those that prepare it and those that approve it.Budgeting, at the local level, has seen several attempts to change its process and has gone through numerous experiments to make it more successful. With the acceptance and experimentation on the part of the federal government, state and municipalities have enjoined the federal system and attempted new procedures; thus, the introduction of program and zero-based budgeting at the local levels.The use of these techniques are not always congruent. In state and local entitites, the "Budget Call" may mean the utilization of several procedures to prepare the upcoming budget. Each division or department may have their own peculiar method for submitting a budget forecast. These departments or divisions may use a Management-By-Objective or Zero-Base program, but be required by their Finance Department to submit a line-item proposal. While in academic theory this would be unnecessary work and duplication of effort, it none the less occurs. |
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