MPA511 PUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Read and respond to the conclusions drawn by at least two of your classmates (approximately 250 words each) 

 

PEER ONE: (JOSHUA)

 

Compare year over year revenue and expenditures and note significant (or not so) changes in the values and provide assumptions for those changes.

 

Looking at the budgets for Iona and Oakland County, I was immediately struck by the reduction in government funding.  In the case of Iona 2017 showed $13.70 million in revenue that was provided or was received, but in 2018 that dropped to $10.47 million.  As for Oakland County (using the data that was provided and not as current) in 2015 they received or collected $89,822 and in 2016 that figure had dropped to $14,448.  While trying to do some research to find out why this was the case, I found an article by Jack Nissen that may have painted the picture.  “It’s a fair statement, given the level of deficit that the federal government has been running, to say ‘at some point, there would be spending cutbacks as one part of a solution to resolve that’,” said John Hicks, the executive director of the National Association of State Budget Offices based in Washington, D.C. (Nissen, 2017).  With the federal government struggling to produce a budget of their own, the affect was less resources sent to the state by way of grants for education, or Medicare payments to help offset the affordable healthcare act.

 

Make some recommendations to the department for improvement where spending gaps or revenue decreases occur.

 

The first recommendation that I would make would be a top down review of the necessity of federal government assistance.  After the data was compiled, I would work towards finding a solution where the state could begin to wean itself of the government subsidies and find a “magic number” that wouldn’t continue to exacerbate the issue.  Dependence on the federal government can be a double edge sword in that the funds can be made available in most cases and can have a real-time impact in the operation of the state, but that falls apart when you become dependent on that “income” for general sustainment.  If any of the decrease in revenue was specific to monies being provided for road work, then a suggestion would be to create a bond issue either for the state or the local municipalities to generate the revenue to make the repairs.

 

Select an example of a federal, state, or local instance of a budget delay. Do a stakeholder analysis. What impacts did the delay have on the various stakeholders in the budget process?

Step 1: Identifying the Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholder Group	State of Maine	Requires Federal funding for budget offset for Medicare
Sponsor Stakeholder Group	Make the necessary contact to secure the Federal funding	Attempt to secure the full local amount necessary for operation (if applicable)
End-user Stakeholder Group	Citizens of the state	Paperwork to be in the program needs to be complete and accurate
Solution Development Stakeholder Group	Identify what percentage of the state’s population that requires the assistance and articulate the number accordingly	Provide a number to call with questions, or provide another measure to educate the public
Implementation Stakeholder Group	Ensure that those handling the funds for the state do so in a timely manner	Register if necessary, or as required
Evaluation Stakeholder Group	Collect data to demonstrate the funds are being used for the intended purpose only	Have a participation rate that ranks Maine in the top 10 for compliance.
Other Groups In some cases, there may be additional types of stakeholder groups such as regulators or the community.	Prepare any oversight necessary at the municipality level to watch for any fraud, waste or abuse and be prepared to eliminate it within the bounds of the law	Perhaps engage with local medical administrators to work with patients in local hospitals to ensure they understand the program and have enrolled accordingly

 

The impact in any delay of federal funding for Medicare could be the lowering of patient care, or possibly even outright refusal to treat if the situation is non-life threatening.

 

References:

 

BS&A Online. (n.d.). City of Pontiac: 2016 Municipal financial summary [Website]. Retrieved from https://bsaonline.com/MunicipalDashboard/FinancialData?uid=825&sitetransition=true

 

BS&A Online. (n.d.). Ionia County: Municipal financial summary [Website]. Retrieved from https://bsaonline.com/?uid=1994

 

Nissen, J. (2017).  Michigan particularly vulnerable to federal budget cuts.  Spartan News Room.  news.jrn.msu.edu.  Retrieved from https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/michigan-particularly-vulnerable-to-federal-budget-cuts/

 

 

 

 

PEER TWO: (JESSICA)

 

Compare year over year revenue and expenditures and note significant (or not so) changes in the values and provide assumptions for those changes.

When reviewing the United Way and local nonprofits’ budget for 2018 it was difficult to look at only because the cuts hit home. Currently, I work with a nonprofit organization and we work closely with the United Way. The fundraising fell 20 percent short and had to notify over 140 nonprofit organizations per May (2018)“United Way is so concerned that it warned more than 140 nonprofits to expect cuts in the funding they will receive”. Although the organization stated that their cut in 2017 felt worse, in my opinion, many families and residents from the state depend on United Way for many things including a food pantry and rental assistance. United Way of Greater Cincinnati showed 56.5 million in revenue for 2017. It also showed how the revenue continued to decrease since 2015. The revenue decreased by $0.7 million from 2015 to 2016 and $4.9 million from 2016-2017. In a matter of 2 years, their revenue decreased by $5.6 million.

May (2018) included the revenue for United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s revenue

2015: $62.1 million

2016: $61.4 million

2017: $56.5 million

Gathering more information based on poverty for children in Greater Cincinnati since this is the program that was hit the hardest due to lack of funding, May (2018) had written another article “New Census data show child poverty on the rise in Cincinnati, Hamilton County”. In this article, United Way stated that the data isn’t giving a great story and the numbers for poverty are extremely high. United Way continued to show the needs; but, lacking in producing a budget that would decrease the number for children in poverty. The lack of funds budgeted that comes directly from private donations would affect the program “Every Child Succeeds”. May (2018) noted a statement from Van Ginkel, “Van Ginkel said she and her staff are still trying to determine what a $440,000 cut in United Way funding would mean for Every Child Succeeds. The cut, she said, is even bigger than it appears on the surface because her organization uses United Way funding as “matching funds” to secure more public funding from Ohio and Kentucky state government sources”.

Make some recommendations to the department for improvement where spending gaps or revenue decreases occur.

One of the first recommendations I would have suggested would be to partner more with faith-based organizations, schools, and with the other nonprofit organizations serving families and the youth population. Another avenue that isn’t utilized as much as I would like to see would be granted and utilizing the armed forces to provide volunteers without hitting the budget as much. I know that the armed forces including JROTC encourage volunteer hours. United Way being dependent solely on private funds can put any organization at risk. Private funds come from the general public and if the economy is rough for the general public, there isn’t much they would be able to give. This affects not only the future of the program; but, all parties involved including the United Way staff. May (2018) indicated “The less private money Every Child Succeeds has from sources such as United Way, she said, the less public money the organization can get”.

Select an example of a federal, state, or local instance of a budget delay. Do a stakeholder analysis. What impacts did the delay have on the various stakeholders in the budget process?

Step 1: Identifying the Stakeholder Groups
Stakeholder Group	State of California	Requires state, federal, out of state, and non-governmental funding. from the stakeholders.
Sponsor Stakeholder Group	Make contact with the coordinators to secure funding from the stakeholders.	Initiate, Attempt and secure the local funding amount if possible.
End-user Stakeholder Group	California residents including temporary residents that live in California due to a military/government assignment.	All forms should be completed in a timely manner, accurately, and completed in its entirety.
Solution Development Stakeholder Group	Identification should be made to distribute accurate numbers to the programs including HHSA and the Refugee Program.	Provide a website with the contact information of the coordinators in each city. It should include a phone number, email, address of location, name of the person and title.
Implementation Stakeholder Group	Ensure that all handlers regarding the funds are trained, understand the importance of responding within a timely manner.	Create a log using electronic forms (i.e google forms), to keep track of the people involved.
Evaluation Stakeholder Group	Collect data electronically whether it’s a data warehouse or software tool to measure the outcomes and the distribution of funds.	Outcomes should be realistic and easy to measure. Data portal should be used to collect and report accurate information. Data should be monitored in a quarterly basis.
Other Groups In some cases there may be additional types of Stakeholder groups such as regulators or the community.	Develop and create a document with monitoring to trigger any fraud claims, waste, or abuse in the funds. Train on monitoring to make sure everyone has a clear understanding.	Engage nonprofits, advocates, and liaisons to work with the city/state who are wanting to help the cause especially regarding the refugee groups.

The impact in any delay of funding for Refugee assistance could increase the chances of the refugee not gaining access to needs that are a part of the human rights including healthcare, placements or supportive social services for the refugees. Cash assistance and supportive services would be delayed, possibly not granted and decrease the survival success rates.

 

 

References

 

CALIFORNIA STATE PLAN FOR REFUGEE ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES/CDSS. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/Refugee/StatePlans/CA_State_Plan_2018-19.pdf?ver=2018-12-12-091039-640 (Links to an external site.) on 20200707 (Links to an external site).

 

May, Lucy. (20180918). New Census data show child poverty on the rise in Cincinnati, Hamilton County. Retrieved from https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/new-census-data-show-child-poverty-on-the-rise-in-cincinnati-hamilton-county (Links to an external site.) on 20200707 (Links to an external site).

 

May, Lucy. (20181023). United Way and local nonprofits brace for multi-million dollar shortfall in 2018 campaign. Retrieved from https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/united-way-and-local-nonprofits-brace-for-multi-million-dollar-shortfall-in-2018-campaign (Links to an external site.) on 20200707 (Links to an external site).

 

Menifield, C. E. (20170802). The Basics of Public Budgeting and Financial Management. [eCampus]. Retrieved from https://ecampus.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780761869764/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site).