Agency Director: As the person with final responsibility for development and presentation of the budget request for your agency, your principal concern is to acquire the dollars necessary to produce the services your agency will be expected to deliver in the coming year. In addition, your professionalism your loyalty to "your" people (employees, clients, or both), and your selfish interests all coincide in the desire to expand the quantity and increase the quality of those services.
On the other, you expect to continue in your position for years to come or be promoted. Thus, you want to be known as a team player, and would prefer to be thought of as someone with a perspective which extends beyond the limits of your agency.
Budget Officer: Your job is to help the Chief Executive evaluate and assemble agency budget requests into a single document which meets the needs of the Chief Executive, conforms to all legal requirements, is prepared on time, uses the proper format and codes, is mathematically accurate, can be defended in terms of agency mission-program objectives-performance standards, and does not waste taxpayers' money, particularly when there are many reasonable but unfunded requests for which the money could be spent. Your job is to determine a recommendation on the agency director's request and then defend your recommendation to the Chief Executive.
Chief Executive: You are the one official, whether elected or appointed, who is individually responsible for managing the entire local government for the benefit of all the citizens. You want a budget which: balances revenues and expenditures, keeps taxes down, provides agencies with the dollars they need to be effective service providers, reflects your own policy priorities, and will be adopted with minimal fuss by the legislators.
Legislator: Your position is part-time: low-paid, and full of aggravation. Still, being a legislator carries a certain amount of power and prestige, offers a chance to make a difference in your community, and may be of help in promoting your small business. You've been reelected once pretty easily, but you are always afraid that some big flap will result in real opposition. You don't want to get beat, but while in office you are going to express your opinions!
Believe would improve the agency's ability to perform its mission. The total first year budget for your proposal cannot exceed $100,000.
Please address the following:
1. Demonstrate the need for your proposal to be adopted.
2. Explain how the program would function when implemented.
3. Estimate the first-year cost of adopting the proposal. Note only three subtotals (personnel, operating, and capital outlay) and remember your first-year cost cannot exceed $100,000.
4. Estimate the annual cost for years two through five should the proposal be accepted.
5. Identify the best quantitative measure of program success or failure.
6. List changes (if any) which would be required at your agency in order that the roposed program be implemented.