Abstract
Some cities experience exponential growth. Some cities experience operating budget shortfalls. Significantly few cities experience both simultaneously and are still able to balance their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. This is the predicament a small municipality found itself in as it was forced to face unimaginable challenges at the beginning of fiscal year 2022. The operational budget shortfall could happen to any municipality and may have even happened to yours.
This article will explore what happened, how it was discovered, what was done to balance the budget, and what measures were put in place to prevent this from happening in the future. To understand how this happened, you will need to first understand the process that was being used, how the operational budget was presented to the city council, and some of the “tricks” that were used to veil actual representations.
Recommended Citation
Alexander, Tamara. . "How to Lose $5.2 Million in Your Operational Budget and Still Make It Balance." Certified Public Manager® Applied Research 4, (1). https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cpmar/vol4/iss1/1